Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1823.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Orange’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Orange is more historic than 71% 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 Orange’s overall grade.
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 Orange’s 20.9 sits near the middle of its state (35% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1796.
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 (±7.9 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 Orange’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1780, the American Revolution-era government of Vermont granted the town of Orange to Captain Ebenezer Green, Amos Robinson, and 63 other shareholders. At the time, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York were fighting for control of Vermont, including the right to award town charters—a fight eventually won by Vermont. During the Revolution, New York unsuccessfully attempted to award a charter for the town of Kempton, which would have encompassed the same territory as Orange. The first settlement in Orange took place in 1793, when Joseph Williams and his family built a house in the southern portion of the town. Orange was officially organized in 1796 in a meeting which took place at Williams's home, and its first government consisted of: Joseph Thayer as town meeting moderator; John Sloane, town clerk; Thomas Storrs Paine, Fairbanks Bush, and Gould Camp as selectmen (Camp was also t…
cuit composed of the towns of Chelsea, Tunbridge, Royalton, Vershirc, Corinth, Washington and Orange. In 1837 Chelsea became a station. The society occupied the court house until 1837, when the present church edifice was built on Main street. While Chelsea was a part of a circuit, the preacher in charge resided here, and preached in the court house, most of the time, local preachers, or licensed exhorters, supplying the other
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
fc4 Esquire Hale has been no office seeker, but has been much sought for office. In 1807 (the year he came to Chelsea) lie was urged by members of the Legislature from Orange county to accept the office of sheriff, but he utterly refused in deference to older residents of the county. In 1814 he accepted the appointment (then made by the Legislature). By the town of Chelsea he was chosen very many times lister, selectman, treasurer,
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
Orange, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
In 1796, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Orange’s post office opened in 1823, and the census of 1800 counted 348 people here.
How does Orange rank for history?
Orange is more historic than 71% 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 Orange?
One place: the Harlie Whitcomb Farm (listed 1979).
How old are the homes in Orange?
17% of Orange’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (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), 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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