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–Not graded
History · Bloomfield

Bloomfield’s post office opened in 1832, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1929 on, and the census since 1800.

1832first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bloomfield’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bloomfield began

When was Bloomfield founded?

1832

The Bloomfield post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Minehead (1811), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 27 in 18002020 census: 217194 years
Founding year: the first Bloomfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bloomfield’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 827 in 1890; 217 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1832: 194 years of Bloomfield.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bloomfield’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bloomfield’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMill pond, Bloomfield, Vt: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Bloomfield, census by census

020040060080018001850190019502000Peak: 827

Peaked at 827 in 1890; 217 people lived here in 2020.

23 censuses, 1800–2020.

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

Timeline

Bloomfield, 1811 to 1929

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1811Post officeThe Minehead post office opens
  3. 1832Post officeThe Minehead post office closes
  4. 1832Post officeThe Bloomfield post office opens
  5. 1859In the archiveMill pond, Bloomfield, Vt
  6. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 827
  7. 20th century
  8. 1916Post officeThe Bloomfield post office closes
  9. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Bloomfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bloomfield.

Read it all →

In 1830, an act from the state General Assembly changed the name of the town from "Minehead" to "Bloomfield." The construction of Nulhegan Mill in 1849 created jobs and grew the town's population.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Bloomfield, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
Mill pond, Bloomfield, Vt1859–1885Mill pond, Bloomfield, Vt
Today7 recent
Bloomfield VT 9-15-262026Bloomfield VT 9-15-26BloomfieldVT TownHall2016BloomfieldVT TownHallBloomfieldVT Rt102NullheganRiverBridge2016BloomfieldVT Rt102NullheganRiverBridgeBloomfieldVT OldChurch2016BloomfieldVT OldChurchBloomfieldVT NFCTMarker2016BloomfieldVT NFCTMarkerBloomfield, Vermont Old Town Hall2011Bloomfield, Vermont Old Town HallBloomfield vt highlight2004Bloomfield vt highlight
On the map

Bloomfield on the map, 1929 to 1988

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

Bloomfield on the 1929 USGS mapBloomfield on the 1953 USGS mapBloomfield on the 1988 USGS map1929Averill 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 Bloomfield.

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.

Mill pond, Bloomfield, Vt
Retake this viewMill pond, Bloomfield, Vt, 1859–1885

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Bloomfield had its own post office from 1832 to 1916. Another post office, Minehead, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Minehead
1811–1832
Bloomfield
1832–1916
18101920today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bloomfield
BloomfieldHealey

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

LemingtonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrunswick1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bloomfield’s history

What year was Bloomfield founded?

The Bloomfield post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (8), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, 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.