The Brighton post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, East Brighton (1872), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 144 in 18102020 census: 1,157177 years
How historic is Brighton?
A+
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Brighton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Brighton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brighton is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brighton’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 Brighton’s 591 sits above most of its state (89% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 69 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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 Brighton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town was named "Gilead" in its original grant in 1780. The town was sold to a group consisting primarily of soldiers commanded by Colonel Joseph Nightingale and subsequently named "Random". The town's name was finally changed by the legislature to "Brighton" in 1832.
The Brighton village of Island Pond gets its name from the Abenaki word Menanbawk, which literally means island pond. In 1957, a 67-foot (20 m) white spruce was chosen from the town for display as the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.
The Brighton post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Brighton rank for history?
Brighton is more historic than 96% 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 Brighton?
One place: the Island Pond Historic District (listed 1979).
How old are the homes in Brighton?
37% of Brighton’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 1967.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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.
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