Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Mendon was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1790.
The Mendon post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mendon is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Mendon’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (5% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Mendon’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1860 and 1930, then grew 4-fold.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mendon’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mendon. 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 Mendon.
From Wikipedia’s history of Mendon.
In February 1781, the town chartered under the name "Medway." The town name changed "Parkerstown" after it annexed a tract of land in November 1804. Finally, the town was renamed to "Mendon" in November 1828.
Mendon was one of thirteen Vermont towns isolated by flooding caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Mendon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Ecclesiastical. — The history of church organizations in Mendon is a narrative of tentative efforts which have not, with one exception, been entirely successful. The first preacher in Mendon, of whom mention is anywhere made, was Thomas Hunt, who was ordained an elder of the Methodist Reformed Church in Douglas, Mass., and came to Mendon in 1818. In iSigBlackmer Cook, a blind preacher, brought a certificate from a Free Will Baptist Church in Burrillville, licensing him to preach and baptize, and to form a church. He lived "over the Notch," and in addition to his preaching, he used to peddle al-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
supply, and its connection with the fire department, it will be of interest to note a few further facts. The first important supply of water to the village was provided through the instrumentality of Gershom Cheney, who laid wooden pipes from a large spring in the edge of the town of Mendon to the village, and posts were set up at the houses of residents, who paid a certain tax for the water supply. This arrangement continued until several years after the incorporation of the village, during most of which period it was in the control and ownership of the "Aqueduct Company." We have already stated that one of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Said land was in the middle of the village of Mendon. It was a desirable place for a meeting-house. He let us have it at a low price. He had previously been offered much more for it than he required us to pay ior it.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Of the men that served in the war of 1812, but three are now living in Mendon they are Rufus Long, Shubael Lamphere and Jeremiah Downey. Rufus Long is almost 56 years old He cultivated his own garden the past summer and took care of 20 swarms of bees. Several people have lived in Mendon to be very aged. A Mrs. Walker lived to the age of 99
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyNobody well known was born in Mendon itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Mendon had its own post office from 1844 to 1902.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Mendon post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Mendon is more historic than 33% 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.
5% of Mendon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1977.
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), Wikipedia, 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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