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History · Middletown Springs

Middletown Springs’ post office opened in 1875, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 126 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1790.

1875first post office
1on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Middletown Springs began

When was Middletown Springs founded?

1875

The Middletown Springs post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Middletown (1808), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 699 in 17902020 census: 794151 years
Founding year: the first Middletown Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Middletown Springs’ past

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

A historic districtThe Middletown Springs Historic District takes in 126 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1810 and 1960, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 126 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
126
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
Middletown Springs Historic District
Middletown Springs Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Federal1
Greek Revival1
Italianate1
Middletown Springs Historic DistrictFederal

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

Help out

Start Middletown Springs’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Middletown Springs, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200180018501900195020001,207 in 1810Low: 381

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1810 and 1960, then more than doubled.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

The story

How Middletown Springs came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Middletown Springs.

Read it all →

Settlement began shortly before the American Revolutionary War. At that time, the four towns of Ira, Poultney, Wells, and Tinmouth converged within a fertile valley ringed by mountains. Inhabitants of this valley had difficulty crossing the mountains to attend church and conduct business in their respective towns, and resolved in 1784 to petition the legislature to create a new town. The petition was granted, and the honor of naming the town was given to settler Joseph Spaulding because of his service in surveying the town's borders. He chose "Middletown" as result of its location at the middle of four towns and to pay homage to his hometown of Middletown, Connecticut. By the year 1810, the population had reached its all-time high of 1,207 persons, and the town was marked by a character of industriousness and prosperity. Middletown had become "a central place" within Rutland County, wit…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Middletown Springs, 1808 to 1917

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1808Post officeThe Middletown post office opens
  3. 1810CensusPopulation peaks at 1,207
  4. 1872Born hereWalter Granger is born here
  5. 1875Post officeThe Middletown post office closes
  6. 1875Post officeThe Middletown Springs post office opens
  7. 1894On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 20th century
  9. 1917Born hereMary Elizabeth Hickox Mandels is born here
By decade

Middletown Springs, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
The history of Middletown, Vermont, in three discourses, delivered before the citizens of that town, February 7 and 21,…Date?The history of Middletown, Vermont, in three discours…Book
Today4 recent
House in2011House inChurch in2011Church inMiddletown springs vt highlight2004Middletown springs vt highlightMiddletown Springs Vermont2004Middletown Springs Vermont
On the map

Middletown Springs on the map, 1894 to 1967

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

Middletown Springs on the 1894 USGS mapMiddletown Springs on the 1967 USGS map1894Pawlet 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 Middletown Springs.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Middletown Springs

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Walter GrangerAmerican paleontologist · b. 1872
Mary Elizabeth Hickox MandelsAmerican chemist · b. 1917
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Middletown Springs’s post office has been open since 1875. Another post office, Middletown, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Middletown
1808–1875
Middletown Springs
1875–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Burnham Hollow
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Middletown Springs
OldPleasant ViewStiles

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Poultney5 historic placesA+Tinmouth1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWells1 historic placeBIraIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Middletown Springs’ history

What year was Middletown Springs founded?

The Middletown Springs post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Middletown Springs?

One place: the Middletown Springs Historic District (listed 1985).

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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.