The Barnard post office opened in 1810, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, East Barnard (1834), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 992216 years
How did Barnard get its name?
Barnard was named "Bernard" after one of the five grantees of the town, Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet, who was governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1760 to 1769.
More on the name
The town's name was changed to Barnard some time before 1810.
How historic is Barnard?
A−
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Barnard is more historic than 82% 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 Barnard’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 Barnard’s 16.5 sits below most of its state (31% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings 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 (±10.0 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 Barnard’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town was chartered on July 17, 1761, by a New Hampshire Grant. It was named "Bernard" after one of the five grantees of the town, Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet, who was governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1760 to 1769. The town's name was changed to Barnard some time before 1810.
Universalist minister Hosea Ballou was at the local church from 1801 to 1807.
In 1928, Nobel Prize–winning novelist Sinclair Lewis bought Connett Place with a total 300 acres (1.2 km2) and adjacent Chase Farm. He named the property Twin Farms and used it as a vacation house during the 1930s and 1940s with his wife Dorothy Thompson.
Passages that mention Barnard, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of barnard, vermont with family genealogies 1761-1927 vol . 2 Genealogical1928 · page 295Read the page →
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to this region and were among the first converts to that faith when John Langdon came to these regions preaching as early as 1800. Timothy Newton was one of the first class leaders on the Old Barnard Circuit and probably the first one in the town of Barnard while he and Captain Brigham were trustees of the first Methodist meetinghouse on the circuit, erected in the front part of the Methodist cemetery on the north road in Barnard as early as 1806. Timothy Newton was elected one of the Collectors of-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of barnard, vermont with family genealogies 1761-1927 vol . 2 Genealogical1928 · page 268Read the page →
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From Bridgewater, Mass., the family came to Pomíret and Barnard but even the Pomfret families were so near to the East Barnard village that their religious and social life was of the latter town more than of Pomíret. Moreover several of the name lived for a time within the confines of the town of Barnard.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1891 · page 583Read the page →
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A Universalist society was organized in Barnard about the year 1804, under the ministerial charge of Rev, Hosea Ballou. This society, like the Methodist, gradually increased in numbers, finding many converts from the Congregational church and society ; and although possibly not so great numerically as the Methodist in the town, the Universalist society is a large one, having two church buildings, one at Barnard village, and the other, a union church, at East Barnard. The first was erected by this society at Barnard in 1803, and replaced by a more substantial
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The Barnard post office opened in 1810, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Barnard rank for history?
Barnard is more historic than 82% 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 Barnard?
One place: the Aiken Stand Complex (listed 1983).
How old are the homes in Barnard?
33% of Barnard’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.0 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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