Its Register listings are the Greenbanks Hollow Covered Bridge, the Whittier House and the Grouselands. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1799.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Danville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Danville is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Danville’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 Danville’s 12.7 sits below most of its state (24% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1786.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.8 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Danville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Danville was established on October 31, 1786, by the Vermont Legislature, making it one of the last towns to be created in Caledonia County.
The town was named for the 18th-century French cartographer Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville.
A debtors' prison was located here in the late 18th to the early 19th centuries.
A thief in West Danville made national news in 2008 when he apologized for robbing a convenience store and left a roll of one-dollar bills to allow the store to open up the next morning.
The annual convention of the American Society of Dowsers is held in Danville.
In July 2017, the Charles D. Brainerd Public Library reopened in the village of West Danville, making the town once again home to Vermont's smallest library.
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.
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.
In 1786, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Danville’s post office opened in 1799, and the first U.S. census counted 574 people here in 1790.
How does Danville rank for history?
Danville is more historic than 82% 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 Danville?
Three places: the Greenbanks Hollow Covered Bridge (listed 1974), the Whittier House (1984) and the Grouselands (1983).
How old are the homes in Danville?
36% of Danville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.8 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
1939
1939
2004
