Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #12 of 71 in Vermont. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 252 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1790.
The Brandon post office opened in 1801, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brandon is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #12 of 71 in Vermont. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
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 Brandon’s 612 sits above most of its state (90% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 252 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brandon. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Brandon.
From Wikipedia’s history of Brandon.
On October 20, 1761, the town of Neshobe was chartered to Capt. Josiah Powers. In October 1784, the name of the town was changed to Brandon by an act of the legislature.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Brandon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Brandon Water Works. — On the evening of the 28th of July, 1878, Fire District No. I of Brandon, adopted resolutions empowering and directing the the prudential committee of that district to construct a suitable aqueduct in the village of Brandon at an expense not exceeding forty thousand dollars.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
time they finished and exhibited specimens of their hay scales and other smaller styles at the fair of the American Institute, in New York, where the)' attracted favorable attention. In the spring of 1857 John Howe, jr., then of Brandon, Rutland county, became impressed with the value of the invention, purchased the patent of the inventors and began their manufacture at Brandon. A stock company was subsequentl}- organized and the business continued until 1877; but the works at Brandon were not conveniently situated relative to railroad shipments, and it was determined in 1877 to remove the entire
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
choose town officers: And whereas, the inhabitants of said town have requested that the name of said town of Neshobe be altered to that of Brandon; Therefore, Be it enacted, and it is hereby enacted by the representatives of trie treemen of the State of Vermont, in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same, that such
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
he never failed to attend Freeman's meeting and to deposit his vote, aud what is most remarkable, he not only voted in this State, but in the town of Brandon, for seventyone consecutive years, having voted for the first town representative from Brandon, Nathan Daniels — and for the last — Dr. Volney Ross — and he was always able to go to
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltForestdale Iron Furnace is built
Born hereStephen A. Douglas is born here
Born hereJohn G. Sawyer is born here
Born hereGeorge Dexter Whitcomb is born here
In the archiveFourth of July!
In the archiveBirth-place of Hon. Stephen A. Douglass, Brandon, Vermont - Lith. of Robertson, Seibert &…
In the archiveMain Street
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveBrandon from Farr Hill
In the archiveBirthplace of Stephen A. Douglass
In the archiveGathering hay near Brandon, Vermont, by Jack Delano, United States Office of War Informat…6 decades in the archive, from the 1830s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Brandon’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 637 and 4,223 people in every census since 1790.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brandon’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Brandon’s post office has been open since 1801.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Brandon post office opened in 1801, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Brandon is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #12 of 71 in Vermont. 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.
5 listings: 2 historic districts, the Brandon Village Historic District and the Brandon State School, with 252 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 2 structures. 252 historic buildings in all.
48% of Brandon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1951.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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