History · Moretown

Moretown dates to 1763, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Middlesex-Winooski River Bridge. Below: maps from 1988 on and the census since 1800.

1763founded

1on the National Register

15%homes built before 1940

4famous people

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Quick answers

How Moretown began, and where its name came from

When was Moretown founded?

1763

Moretown dates its founding to 1763 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1800.

First census: 191 in 18002020 census: 1,753263 years

How did Moretown get its name?

It is also theorized that Moretown was named when it was realized that there was one more town that had yet to be named on the map.

More on the name

Bradford, Vermont was briefly named Mooretown between 1770 and 1788, before being renamed to its current name.

How historic is Moretown?

B⁺

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1820. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Moretown’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Moretown is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Moretown’s overall grade.

Founding era1763, from Wikipedia: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA⁺Homes built before 194014.9% of homes (±4.6) · typical VT town 22.4% · U.S. 8.4%B National Register1 listing, 6.5 per 10,000 residents · typical VT town 147 · U.S. 2.4C

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%

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 Moretown’s 6.5 sits below most of its state (16% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1763.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 points).

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Moretown’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Moretown are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1860 and 1940, then more than doubled.Older than the countryEstablished in 1763, 13 years before the Declaration of Independence.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Moretown’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

People over time

Moretown, census by census

Lost half of its people between 1860 and 1940, then more than doubled.

23 censuses, 1800–2020.

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

Timeline

Moretown, 1763 to 2020

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

18th century
1763
FoundingMoretown is established
19th century
1820Post officeThe Moretown post office opens
1824Born hereMatthew H. Carpenter is born here
1830Born hereJohn W. Clark is born here
1857Born hereJohn R. MacDonald is born here
1871Born hereEdward H. Deavitt is born here
20th century
1988On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
21st century
2020CensusPopulation peaks at 1,753

The story

How Moretown came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Moretown.

Read it all →

Evidence of humans living in the area which would become Moretown goes back about 11,000 years. Evidenced by a human-made fluted projectile point, which was located in Moretown near South Hill Road, dating to about 9,000 BCE.

Moretown was one of the 36 towns chartered by New Hampshire colonial Governor Benning Wentworth in 1763.

Due to the sight-unseen nature of these charters, the town's borders cut directly across mountains, valleys, and rivers. This has the effect of creating several isolated villages and neighborhoods in Moretown, rather than a cohesive center like the nearby towns of Waitsfield, Vermont or Waterbury, Vermont.

ChaptersIndigenous peoples Charter and organization (1763-1832)Early growth (1832-1870)Era of decline (1870-1960)Modern era (1960-Present)

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Moretown in 1882

Passages that mention Moretown, cut from the printed page as they were published.

years since] : The first school-house in this town was within the limits of the present village of Moretown. In the first settlement of the town there were three lots set off for the first minister. Rev. Mr. Brown, Universalist, the first minister settled, deeded the land to the town for the benefi… — **The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer**1882 · page 597Read the page →
Read the text
years since] : The first school-house in this town was within the limits of the present village of Moretown. In the first settlement of the town there were three lots set off for the first minister. Rev. Mr. Brown, Universalist, the first minister settled, deeded the land to the town for the benefit of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

3'ears since] : The first school-house in this town was within the limits of the present village of Moretown. In the first settlement of the town there were three lots set off" for the first minister. Rev. Mr. Brown, Universalist, the first minister settled, deeded the land to the town for the bene… — **The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer**1882 · page 597Read the page →
Read the text
3'ears since] : The first school-house in this town was within the limits of the present village of Moretown. In the first settlement of the town there were three lots set off" for the first minister. Rev. Mr. Brown, Universalist, the first minister settled, deeded the land to the town for the benefit of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

almon weatherbee moved from Moretown to Northfield in 1S45 ; worked for Governor Paine in his factory and grist-mill. He built the house where his family now live — the first house on that hill. He was killed Dec. 1 1, 1867, in the terrible railroad disaster at Harlow Bridge. He was an industrious … — **The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer**1882 · page 640Read the page →
Read the text
almon weatherbee moved from Moretown to Northfield in 1S45 ; worked for Governor Paine in his factory and grist-mill. He built the house where his family now live — the first house on that hill. He was killed Dec. 1 1, 1867, in the terrible railroad disaster at Harlow Bridge. He was an industrious and good
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

ing lots, in lieu of drawing by lot as specified in the grant. By "quiet" it is presumed was meant to let them hold the lots selected. Moretown was settled prior to 1790; for in 1790, Ebenezer Haseltine came to the N. W. part, and commenced to clear a farm about a mile and a half from Duxbury line.… — **The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer**1882 · page 593Read the page →
Read the text
ing lots, in lieu of drawing by lot as specified in the grant. By "quiet" it is presumed was meant to let them hold the lots selected. Moretown was settled prior to 1790; for in 1790, Ebenezer Haseltine came to the N. W. part, and commenced to clear a farm about a mile and a half from Duxbury line. It was on Wihooski
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.

By decade

Moretown, decade by decade

Today4 recent

2025View of Moretown Village from Moretown Mountain

2016MoretownVT TownHall

2016MoretownVT Library

2004Moretown vt highlight

On the map

Moretown on the map in 1988

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Moretown.

1988Montpelier sheet · 1:100,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Moretown.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Moretown

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1991

Middlesex-Winooski River Bridge

Structures

Architectural styles listings

Pratt through truss bridge1

Middlesex-Winooski River BridgePratt through truss bridge

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Moretown

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

See all →

Matthew H. CarpenterAmerican politician · b. 1824

Edward H. DeavittAmerican politician · b. 1871

John R. MacDonaldAmerican politician · b. 1857

John W. ClarkAmerican soldier (1830–1898); Medal of Honor re… · b. 1830

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Moretown’s post office has been open since 1820.

Hamlets and corners on the map

North Moretown

6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Moretown

BeldingFairmountHawks - EatonMoretown CommonMountain ViewVillage

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.

MiddlesexIts storyB⁻Waterbury6 historic placesA Duxbury1 historic placeC⁺Berlin3 historic placesA Waitsfield7 historic placesA Northfield9 historic placesA Fayston2 historic placesB⁺

Questions about Moretown’s history

What year was Moretown founded?

In 1763, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Moretown’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 1800 counted 191 people here.

How does Moretown rank for history?

Moretown is more historic than 72% 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.

What is on the National Register in Moretown?

One place: the Middlesex-Winooski River Bridge (listed 1991).

How old are the homes in Moretown?

15% of Moretown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1982.

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 (4), 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), 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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