Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Athens

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Athens

Athens’ post office opened in 1827, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Old Brick Church. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1930 on, and the census since 1790.

1827first post office
1on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Athens’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Athens began

When was Athens founded?

1827

The Athens post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 450 in 17902020 census: 380199 years
Founding year: the first Athens post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Athens’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1820 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.Deep rootsA post office since 1827: 199 years of Athens.
★ What stands out · People over time

Athens, census by census

010020030040050018001850190019502000507 in 1820Low: 123

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1820 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Athens’ Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Athens, 1812 to 1941

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1812Born hereOscar L. Shafter is born here
  3. 1816Born hereJames McMillan Shafter is born here
  4. 1820CensusPopulation peaks at 507
  5. 1827Post officeThe Athens post office opens
  6. 1866Born hereHenry L. Bowles is born here
  7. 1870Born hereElmer Darwin Ball is born here
  8. 20th century
  9. 1907Post officeThe Athens post office closes
  10. 1916In the archiveOscar Lovell Shafter
  11. 1930On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1941In the archiveMr. Silas Butson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client near Athens, Vermont
The story so far

Athens, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Athens yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Athens ( ATH-inz or AY-thinz) is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 380 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1827. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 442 to 380 (-14%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Athens, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1940s8 items
Oscar Lovell Shafter1916Oscar Lovell ShafterMr. Silas Butson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client near Athens, Vermont1941Mr. Silas Butson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) …Mr. Silas Butson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client, loading hay into his barn. Athens, Vermont1941Mr. Silas Butson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) …Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mr. Silas Butson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client near Athens, Vermont1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mr. Silas Butson…Son of Silas Butson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client, helping to cut the hay. Athens, Vermont1941Son of Silas Butson, FSA (Farm Security Administratio…Cutting hay with oxen on the farm of Silas Butson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client. Athens, Vermont1941Cutting hay with oxen on the farm of Silas Butson, FS…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mr. Silas Butson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client, loading hay into his …1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mr. Silas Butson…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mr. Silas Butson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client, loading hay into his …1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mr. Silas Butson…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today10 recent
Athens, Vermont2012Athens, VermontAthens, Vermont2012Athens, VermontAthens, Vermont2012Athens, VermontAthens, Vermont2012Athens, VermontAthens, Vermont2012Athens, VermontAthens, Vermont2012Athens, VermontAthens, Vermont2012Athens, VermontAthens, Vermont2012Athens, VermontAthens vt highlight2004Athens vt highlightAthens vermont meeting house2004Athens vermont meeting house
On the map

Athens on the map, 1930 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Athens. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Athens on the 1930 USGS mapAthens on the 1957 USGS mapAthens on the 1984 USGS map1930Saxtons River sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Athens.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Oscar Lovell Shafter
Retake this viewOscar Lovell Shafter, 1916

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Athens’ page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Athens

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Old Brick Church
Old Brick Church
Buildings
Old Brick ChurchBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Athens

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Henry L. BowlesAmerican politician · b. 1866
Elmer Darwin BallAmerican entomologist · b. 1870
James McMillan ShafterAmerican politician · b. 1816
Oscar L. ShafterAmerican judge · b. 1812
D
David J. PowersWisconsin pioneer · b. 1814
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Athens had its own post office from 1827 to 1907.

Athens
1827–1907
18201920today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Athens’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOscar Lovell Shafter: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Grafton11 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWestminster1 historic placeATownshend8 historic placesA

Questions about Athens’ history

What year was Athens founded?

The Athens post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Athens?

One place: the Old Brick Church (listed 1979).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (7), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.