Its Register listings are the Brigham Academy and the St. George's Catholic Church. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: the first Bakersfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bakersfield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bakersfield is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bakersfield’s overall grade.
Vermont towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Vermont town has 147 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bakersfield’s 18.0 sits below most of its state (34% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Bakersfield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town history began when Joseph Baker of Westborough, Massachusetts, the namesake for the village, bought 10,000 acres in 1791. Initial settlers were his son-in-law, Stephen Maynard, and his nephew Jonas Brigham, along with their families. Baker built grist and saw mills on Baker's Pond in 1794. Two years later Maynard built a tavern. In 1797, a school was established in a log cabin at the Post Road and Vermont 108. Five acres were deeded for the development of a town common and burying ground in 1804 by Joseph Baker. Maynard built a Federal style house north of the village to serve as the first post office in 1811.
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.
The Bakersfield post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bakersfield rank for history?
Bakersfield is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Bakersfield?
Two places: the Brigham Academy (listed 1995) and the St. George's Catholic Church (2001).
How old are the homes in Bakersfield?
25% of Bakersfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1982.
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).
From the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.
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