Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #50 of 71 in Vermont. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 141 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1790.
The Colchester post office opened in 1813, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Mallett Bay (1882), Champlain (1894) and Fort Ethan Allen (1902), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Colchester is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #50 of 71 in Vermont. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 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 Colchester’s 79.9 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 141 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Colchester’s history is told.
Colchester’s post office has been open since 1813. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Colchester.
Chartered June 7, 1763, the town was named for the Earl of Colchester.
Winooski Falls separated from the town of Colchester in 1922, causing Colchester to lose a large percentage of its population to the newly founded city of Winooski.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Colchester, cut from the printed page as they were published.
for meeting at the village of Burlington, a railroad to be built on the route described in the acts to incorporate the Champlain and Connecticut River Railroad Company, and the Vermont Central Railroad Company." The route determined upon extends from Rouse's Point to Burlington, through Colchester, Milton, Georgia, St. Albans, Swanton and Alburgh, a distance of fifty-three miles. The work of its construction was begun early in September, 1848, in the northern part of Georgia, and completed early in 185 1. The first officers of this company were as follows :
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The county of Chittenden was set off from Addison and incorporated into a distinct county October 22, 1787. The Supreme Court held two annual sessions in Colchester, commencing with the August term, 1789. At this and the succeeding term Nathaniel Chipman presided as chief justice, and at the third term, held at Burlington, Elijah Paine was chief justice. The County Court held six terms at Colchester, commencing with the February term, 1788.
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.
Born hereEli B. Ames is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveNourse's Main Marine Room, Malletts Bay, Vermont (78797)
In the archiveVT Colchester Screen Shot 2019-05-01 at 9.37.47 AM2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2011Lake Champlain flooding
2009Malletsbaycauseway
2009Colch2
2008Old Hall, St. Michaels College, Winooski Park, Vermont
2008Colchester, VT, USA
2008COLC Causeway Branches
2007Nourse's Main Marine Room, Malletts Bay, Vermont
2005VermontInformationProcessingHeadquarters
2004Untitled photo
2004Colchester vt highlightEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Colchester. 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 Colchester.
Drag across each photo to compare.
c. 19302007Lost half of its people between 1920 and 1930, then grew 6-fold.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Colchester’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Colchester post office opened in 1813, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Colchester is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #50 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.
Two places: the Fort Ethan Allen Historic District (listed 1995) and the PHOENIX (Shipwreck) (1998).
12% of Colchester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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 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.
