Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 82 buildings. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1790.
Londonderry dates its founding to 1770 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Londonderry is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns. 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 Londonderry’s 443 sits above most of its state (83% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 83 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% 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.
Lost a third of its people between 1860 and 1930, then more than doubled.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Londonderry’s Wikipedia page.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Londonderry. 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 Londonderry.
From Wikipedia’s history of Londonderry.
Londonderry was first chartered in 1770 to a Col. James Rogers and was known as Kent, which included what is now Windham. The town was again chartered by act of the new Vermont Legislature on April 20, 1780. In this charter, the township was named Londonderry after Londonderry in New Hampshire, which in turn was named after Londonderry in Ireland.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Londonderry, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In 1741, an act to incorporate a new parish in the township of Londonderry, by the name of Windham, passed in the General Assembly of the Province. In the beginning of 1747, the Rev. William Johnston was installed the Pastor of this religious society ; and Nathaniel Hemphill, Samuel Kinkead, and John Kyle, were made ruling Elders.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
which had been formed and organized after Mr. Brown's settlement, became united with the Presbyterian church and society, and were incorporated by an act of the Legislature,, as the First Parish in Londonderry. In forming this union, so desirable, and so necessary to the peace and prosperity of the Parish, each society yielded a few of those peculiarities by which they were distinguished ; and we are happy to find, that they have now become so blended and so unit-
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 hereNorman F. Bates is born here
Born hereJanette Hill Knox is born here
BuiltLondonderry Town House is built
Born hereHarrison Henry Atwood is born here
Born hereErnest W. Gibson is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveUntitled photo
In the archiveEntering South Londonderry, Vermont2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1916Untitled photo1941Entering South Londonderry, Vermont
1941Lumber mill at Londonderry, Vermont
1941View of South Londonderry, Vermont
1941Landscape near South Londonderry, Vermont
1941Stone fence near South Londonderry, Vermont
1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: Landscape near S…
1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: Landscape near S…
2024Second Congregational Church
2021Londonderry Vermont October 2021 007
2021Londonderry Vermont October 2021 006
2021Londonderry Vermont October 2021 005
2021Londonderry Vermont October 2021 004
2021Londonderry Vermont October 2021 003
2021Londonderry Vermont October 2021 002
2021Londonderry Vermont October 2021 001
2018LondonderryVT TownHouse
2016The Custer-Sharp House
2016The Custer Sharp House in
2016PeterWellsFamousArtistsSchool
2016Peter Wells
2016Custer Sharp House and Middle Town Schoolhouse in
2016Bernadine Custer Sharp, Study for a Mural, c. 1930s
2015Festival Parking Sign
2012The Pantry in South
2010Outlet Barn in
2010Lowell-lake-walkway-londonderry
2008Twilight Zone
2006Perspective view, northeast, of Whitman House, a Goth…
2004Londonderry vt highlightNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Londonderry’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Londonderry’s post office has been open since 1823. Another post office, North Windham, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1770, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Londonderry’s post office opened in 1823, and the first U.S. census counted 362 people here in 1790.
Londonderry 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.
Two places: the Londonderry Town House (listed 1983) and the South Londonderry Village Historic District (1986).
19% of Londonderry’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 1978.
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 (24), the Library of Congress (7), Wikidata (2), 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.
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