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A+History
History · Cavendish

42% of Cavendish’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 95% of U.S. towns. What drives it

8 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 10 buildings. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1929 on, and the census since 1790.

8on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
10famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cavendish’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Cavendish’s history

How historic is Cavendish?

A+

More historic than 95% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Cavendish’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cavendish is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cavendish’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194041.5% of homes (±7.1) · typical VT town 22.4% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register8 listings, 19 historic buildings, 153 per 10,000 residents · typical VT town 147 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 95%
NewerOlder

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 Cavendish’s 153 sits above most of its state (65% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 19 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 points).

Founding year: our sources. 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 Cavendish’s past

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

Then and nowOne place photographed years apart. Drag to compare.Landmarks on the Register8 places on the National Register.Famous sons and daughtersNettie Stevens, Fletcher D. Proctor and 8 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Then & now

The same spot, 144 years apart

Drag across each photo to compare.

CavendishVermont 1869Map Beers AnnotatedPhineasGageLocationsCavendishVermont 1869Map Beers18692013
CavendishVermont 1869Map BeersMatched from the two captions
On the National Register

8 historic places in Cavendish

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
8
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
19
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Cavendish Universalist Church
Cavendish Universalist Church, built 1844Glimmerstone, built 1845Iron Bridge at Howard Hill RoadBrook Farm, built 1894Atherton Farmstead, built 1785Spaulding BridgePollard Block, built 1895Aaron Jr. and Susan Parker Farm
BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Gothic Revival Cottage1
Colonial Revival1
Federal1
Parker pony truss1
Italianate1
Cavendish Universalist ChurchGreek Revival · Built 1844
GlimmerstoneGothic Revival Cottage · Built 1845
Iron Bridge at Howard Hill RoadStructure
Brook FarmColonial Revival · Built 1894
Atherton FarmsteadFederal · Built 1785
Spaulding BridgeParker pony truss
Pollard BlockItalianate · Built 1895
Aaron Jr. and Susan Parker FarmBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

10 famous people were born in Cavendish

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Nettie StevensAmerican geneticist · b. 1861
Fletcher D. ProctorAmerican politician · b. 1860
Ryland FletcherAmerican politician · b. 1799
Richard FletcherAmerican politician · b. 1788
Harriet Ellen Arey(Grannis), author, b. in Cavendish, Vt., 14 Apr… · b. 1819
Henry A. FletcherAmerican politician · b. 1839
The story

How Cavendish came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cavendish.

Read it all →

Captain John Coffeen, the town's first permanent settler, brought his family and possessions into the wilderness of Cavendish in June 1769. They built a dwelling in the northern part of town on what is now E. I. Heald's farm, on the lot still called the "Coffeen pasture". The Coffeens remained the only family in Cavendish for two years. In the early 1780s, Leonard Proctor and Salmon Dutton came from Massachusetts and gave their names to the two major settlements on the Black River, Proctorsville and Duttonsville. In 1782, the first recorded town meeting occurred and Dutton was elected town clerk. He is credited with having conducted a 1784 survey for the first road from Duttonsville along the Black River to Ludlow (now Vermont routes 103 and 131). In 1786 he became the town's first justice of the peace. He also served as moderator of the town meeting, as selectman, and as town treasurer…

ChaptersEarly settlers

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cavendish, 1785 to 1929

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1785BuiltAtherton Farmstead is built
  3. 1788Born hereRichard Fletcher is born here
  4. 1799Born hereRyland Fletcher is born here
  5. 19th century
  6. 1800Post officeThe Cavendish post office opens
  7. 1821Post officeThe Proctorsville post office opens
  8. 1844BuiltCavendish Universalist Church is built
  9. 1845BuiltGlimmerstone is built
  10. 1855In the archiveCavendishVermont Doton1855
  11. 1860Born hereFletcher D. Proctor is born here
  12. 1861Born hereNettie Stevens is born here
  13. 1869In the archiveCavendishVermont 1869Map Beers
  14. 1894BuiltBrook Farm is built
  15. 20th century
  16. 1900In the archiveIn Cavendish gorge, Vt
  17. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Cavendish, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1860s2 items
CavendishVermont Doton18551855CavendishVermont Doton1855CavendishVermont 1869Map Beers1869CavendishVermont 1869Map Beers
1900s4 items
In Cavendish gorge, Vt1900In Cavendish gorge, VtIn Cavendish gorge, Vt1900In Cavendish gorge, VtValley below Cavendish, Vt1900Valley below Cavendish, VtLooking out of Cavendish gorge, Vt1900Looking out of Cavendish gorge, Vt
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Salmon Dutton HouseDate?Salmon Dutton House
Today17 recent
Cavendish VT 5-23-262026Cavendish VT 5-23-26PhineasGage CavendishMemorialPlaque22018PhineasGage CavendishMemorialPlaque2PhineasGage CavendishMemorialPlaque2018PhineasGage CavendishMemorialPlaqueCavendishVT ParkerFarm2017CavendishVT ParkerFarmCavendish Vol Fire Department2017Cavendish Vol Fire DepartmentCavendishVermont 1869Map Beers AnnotatedPhineasGageLocations cropped2014CavendishVermont 1869Map Beers AnnotatedPhineasGageLo…Cavendish VT Post Office2014Cavendish VT Post OfficeCavendish VT Downtown VT1312014Cavendish VT Downtown VT131CavendishVermont 1869Map Beers AnnotatedPhineasGageLocations2013CavendishVermont 1869Map Beers AnnotatedPhineasGageLo…Glimmerstone2012GlimmerstoneCavendish Universalist Church2012Cavendish Universalist ChurchRailroadCutCavendishVermontPresumedToBePhineasGageAccidentSite2009RailroadCutCavendishVermontPresumedToBePhineasGageAcc…RailroadCutCavendishVermontPresumedToBePhineasGageAccidentSite cropped2009RailroadCutCavendishVermontPresumedToBePhineasGageAcc…Frozen tree2008Frozen treeSnowy wonderland2007Snowy wonderlandCavendish, VT Architecture2005Cavendish, VT ArchitectureCavendish vt highlight2004Cavendish vt highlight
On the map

Cavendish on the map, 1929 to 1972

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

Cavendish on the 1929 USGS mapCavendish on the 1932 USGS mapCavendish on the 1972 USGS map1929Ludlow 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 Cavendish.

People over time

Cavendish, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018001850190019502000Peak: 1,823

Between 491 and 1,823 people in every census since 1790.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Cavendish’s post office has been open since 1800.

Cavendish
1800–today
Proctorsville
1821–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cavendish CenterProctorsvilleWhitesville
Gone or out of use
Cavendish Center SchoolschoolGilchrist SchoolschoolWheeler Schoolschool
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cavendish
Cavendish VillageCoffeenHillcrestMount UnionOld Revolutionary WarPestProctorTwentymile Stream

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

Help out

Finish Cavendish’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCavendishVermont Doton1855: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

BaltimoreIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townReading3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLudlow6 historic placesAWeathersfield4 historic placesB+

Questions about Cavendish’s history

How does Cavendish rank for history?

Cavendish is more historic than 95% 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 Cavendish?

8 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Cavendish Universalist Church (listed 1973, the first), 1 historic district, the Brook Farm, with 10 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 19 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Cavendish?

42% of Cavendish’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1968.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (19), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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.