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History · East Dorset

East Dorset’s post office opened in 1826, and 49% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1894 on.

1826first post office
1on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From East Dorset’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How East Dorset began

When was East Dorset founded?

1826

The East Dorset post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 296200 years
Founding year: the first East Dorset post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about East Dorset’s past

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

On the map since 18943 editions of the USGS map, 1894 to 1997. Watch East Dorset change.Old housesHalf of East Dorset’s homes were built before 1941.Deep rootsA post office since 1826: 200 years of East Dorset.
★ What stands out · On the map

East Dorset on the map, 1894 to 1997

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

East Dorset on the 1894 USGS mapEast Dorset on the 1968 USGS mapEast Dorset on the 1997 USGS map1894Equinox 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 East Dorset.

The story so far

East Dorset, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of East Dorset yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

East Dorset is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Dorset, Bennington County, Vermont, United States. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. As of the 2020 census, East Dorset had a population of 296. It is in northern Bennington County, in the eastern part of the town of Dorset, in a valley between Mount Aeolus of the Taconic Mountains to the west and the Green Mountains to the east. The Batten Kill rises at East Dorset and flows south and west to the Hudson River in New York. U.S. Route 7 passes through East Dorset, leading north 26 miles (42 km) to Rutland and south 28 miles (45 km) to Bennington. East Dorset is home to the first m…

Its first post office opened in 1826.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

East Dorset, 1868 to 1895

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868In the archiveD. L. Kent & Co.'s marble quarry, East Dorset, Vt
  3. 1894On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1895Born hereBill W. is born here
By decade

East Dorset, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s6 items
D. L. Kent & Co.'s marble quarry, East Dorset, Vtc. 1868D. L. Kent & Co.'s marble quarry, East Dorset, VtD. L. Kent & Co.'s marble quarry, East Dorset, Vtc. 1868D. L. Kent & Co.'s marble quarry, East Dorset, VtHollister, Tyrel & Co.'s marble quarry, East Dorset. Vtc. 1868Hollister, Tyrel & Co.'s marble quarry, East Dorset. …Hollister, Tyrel & Co.'s marble quarry, East Dorset. Vtc. 1868Hollister, Tyrel & Co.'s marble quarry, East Dorset. …Looking north from D. L. Kent & Co.'s marble quarry, East Dorset, Vtc. 1868Looking north from D. L. Kent & Co.'s marble quarry, …Looking north from D. L. Kent & Co.'s marble quarry, East Dorset, Vtc. 1868Looking north from D. L. Kent & Co.'s marble quarry, …
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

D. L. Kent & Co.'s marble quarry, East Dorset, Vt
Retake this viewD. L. Kent & Co.'s marble quarry, East Dorset, Vt, c. 1868

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on East Dorset’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in East Dorset

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

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

Help out

Finish East Dorset’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewD. L. Kent & Co.'s marble quarry, East …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about East Dorset’s history

What year was East Dorset founded?

The East Dorset post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.