Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Stagecoach Inn, the School House and Town Hall and the Leicester Meeting House. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1790.
Leicester dates its founding to 1761 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Leicester is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings 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 Leicester’s 29.2 sits near the middle of its state (40% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Leicester’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1860 and 1920, then more than doubled.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Leicester’s Wikipedia page.
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).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Leicester yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Leicester ( LEST-ər) is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 990 at the 2020 census.
Leicester was established in 1761. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,100 to 990 (-10%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Leicester, cut from the printed page as they were published.
When the town of Leicester was chartered it was intended that it should have an equal extent of territory with Salisbury ; but after Brandon to the south, and Middlebury on the north, had been Laid out, it was discovered that only about eight miles of distance were left for the twoytowns of Leicester and Salisbury, or four miles for each, instead of six. This state of affairs led to a great deal of difficulty, which continued until April, 1796, when a committee was chosen to adjust the matter, consisting of John Smith, Benjamin Garfield, and Joseph Woodward, of Leicester, and Eleazer Claghorn, Salathiel Bump,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
tlement on the borders of the lake in Addison in 1765, and took possession with their families in 1766.1 .... A few other families were settled there before the struggle for independence began. The first settlements, by families, in Whiting and Leicester, were in 1773 ; in Cornwall and Monkton in 1774; in Weybridge in 1775. In no other towns in the county had permanent settlements been made at that time ; and in the towns mentioned the number of families was small."2 On the 19th of April, 1775, the first blood of the Revolution was shed at
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 hereHiram Capron is born here
Born hereAaron F. Perry is born here
BuiltLeicester Meeting House is built
Born hereWarren Seymour Johnson is born here
Born hereElsa Barker is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Leicester. 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 Leicester.
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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1761, according to Wikidata. Leicester’s post office opened in 1823, and the first U.S. census counted 343 people here in 1790.
Leicester is more historic than 86% 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.
Three places: the Stagecoach Inn (listed 1984), the School House and Town Hall (1988) and the Leicester Meeting House (1988).
21% of Leicester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 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 (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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