Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1790.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Poultney is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs put Poultney near the top nationally; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest.
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 Poultney’s 920 sits above most of its state (96% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 95 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Poultney’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Poultney. 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 Poultney.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Poultney.
One of the New Hampshire Grants, Poultney was charted on September 21, 1761, by Benning Wentworth, Royal Governor of New Hampshire, and named for William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, a British politician and orator.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Poultney, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The industries of Poultney prior to 1 800 were few in number, and for the most part of little importance beyond the limits of the town. Saw-mills and grist-mills abounded, for people demanded lumber for their dwellings and flour for their daily sustenance. There were at one time six saw-mills in town on Poultney River. One was erected and operated by Jonathan Morgan, near
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
considered as remarkable, the heavy rain was confined to the town of Middletown and the west part of Tinmouth. Damage was done in Poultney. Poultney river runs through that town, and was swollen by the fall of water in Middletown and Tinmouth but the fall of water in Poultney, as I have been informed, was not great.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Five grist-mills had been built in town prior to 1800. Jonathan Morgan operated one near his saw-mill ; there was one at the Todd place a half mile east of the east village ; one at East Poultney, built about 1773, by Nehemiah Howe, and the first one in town; one near the saw-mill at the candlestick-factory place, and one at Hampton Bridge. As early as 1785 Samuel Joslin and Abel Darling erected a forge at the Todd place.
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 1,121 and 3,644 people in every census since 1790.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Poultney’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Poultney is among the most historic 1% 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.
58% of Poultney’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.8 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 Wikidata (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
