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A−History
History · Lunenburg

Lunenburg’s post office opened in 1808, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 78% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1790.

1808first post office
1on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lunenburg’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lunenburg began

When was Lunenburg founded?

1808

The Lunenburg post office opened in 1808, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, South Lunenburg (1877) and Fitzdale (1901), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 119 in 17902020 census: 1,246218 years

How historic is Lunenburg?

A−

More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Lunenburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lunenburg’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lunenburg is more historic than 78% 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 Lunenburg’s overall grade.
Founding era1808, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194034.8% of homes (±7.5) · typical VT town 22.4% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 7.9 per 10,000 residents · typical VT town 147 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 78%
NewerOlder

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 Lunenburg’s 7.9 sits below most of its state (18% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

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 (±7.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Lunenburg’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lunenburg, and 4 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19003 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1982. Watch Lunenburg change.Deep rootsA post office since 1808: 218 years of Lunenburg.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lunenburg’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lunenburg’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTriple Dee Motel: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Lunenburg’s post office has been open since 1808. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lunenburg
1808–today
South Lunenburg
1877–1977
Fitzdale
1901–1921
Gilman
1921–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Baptist HillGilmanMill VillageSouth Lunenburg
Gone or out of use
Nichols Hallbuilding
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lunenburg
Baptist HillClarkLunenburg CornerPowersRiversideSpauldingStuart

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Lunenburg on the map, 1900 to 1982

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

Lunenburg on the 1900 USGS mapLunenburg on the 1935 USGS mapLunenburg on the 1982 USGS map1900Whitefield 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 Lunenburg.

The story

How Lunenburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lunenburg.

Read it all →

Lunenburg was granted by Benning Wentworth, the royal governor of New Hampshire, on July 5, 1763, to David Page and 68 other people. It is widely believed that David Page named the town, which stems from one of the titles for Prince Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand of Brunswick-Lunenburg. Lunenburg was the home of Vermont State Representative Adino Nye Bell. Lunenburg is also believed to have inspired the Robert Frost poem "The Mountain", which takes place in a town called Lunenburg.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lunenburg, 1808 to 1984

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1808Post officeThe Lunenburg post office opens
  3. 1827Born hereCynthia Holmes Belcher is born here
  4. 1877Post officeThe South Lunenburg post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1901Post officeThe Fitzdale post office opens
  8. 1921Post officeThe Fitzdale post office closes
  9. 1977Post officeThe South Lunenburg post office closes
  10. 1984In the archiveTriple Dee Motel
By decade

Lunenburg, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s1 item
Triple Dee Motel1984Triple Dee Motel
1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today13 recent
Lunenburg VT 5-19-262026Lunenburg VT 5-19-26Gilman VT 5-19-262026Gilman VT 5-19-26Lunenburg VT 8-16-20252025Lunenburg VT 8-16-2025Lunenburg VT 11-07-252025Lunenburg VT 11-07-25Lunenburg VT 10-3-252025Lunenburg VT 10-3-25As this moose-themed mailbox near Lunenburg, Vermont, attests, these large, flat-antlered members of the deer family ar…2017As this moose-themed mailbox near Lunenburg, Vermont,…Metal moose art on a lawn2017Metal moose art on a lawnLunenburgVT TownCommon2016LunenburgVT TownCommonLunenburgVT ChurchSteepleRepair2016LunenburgVT ChurchSteepleRepairLunenburgVT Church2016LunenburgVT ChurchLunenburgVT AldenBalchMemorialLibrary2016LunenburgVT AldenBalchMemorialLibraryLunenburgVT 1849TownHall2016LunenburgVT 1849TownHallLunenburg vermont towns2004Lunenburg vermont towns
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.

Triple Dee Motel
Retake this viewTriple Dee Motel, 1984

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Lunenburg

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.

People over time

Lunenburg, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,40018001850190019502000Peak: 1,400

Between 119 and 1,400 people in every census since 1790.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lunenburg’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Concord1 historic placeA−GilmanIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGuildhall2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townVictoryIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lunenburg’s history

What year was Lunenburg founded?

The Lunenburg post office opened in 1808, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Lunenburg rank for history?

Lunenburg is more historic than 78% 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.

How old are the homes in Lunenburg?

35% of Lunenburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1972.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the Library of Congress (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) 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.