Its Register listings are the Gorham Covered Bridge and the Marble Bridge. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1890.
The Proctor post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sutherland Falls (1855), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,758 in 18902020 census: 1,763141 years
How historic is Proctor?
B+
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Proctor post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Proctor’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Proctor is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Proctor’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 Proctor’s 11.1 sits below most of its state (22% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 (±7.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Proctor’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In the early 19th century, small high-quality marble deposits were discovered in Rutland, and in the 1830s a large deposit of nearly solid marble of high quality was found in what is now West Rutland. By the 1840s small firms had begun operations, but marble quarries only became profitable when the railroad came to Rutland in 1851. At the same time, the famous quarries of Carrara in Tuscany, Italy, became largely unworkable because of their extreme depth, and Rutland quickly became one of the leading producers of marble in the world.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Proctor. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1895Castleton 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 Proctor.
Every building
Proctor, building by building, 1910–1922
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.
The Proctor post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Proctor rank for history?
Proctor is more historic than 66% 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 Proctor?
Two places: the Gorham Covered Bridge (listed 1974) and the Marble Bridge (1991).
How old are the homes in Proctor?
69% of Proctor’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (9), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1898
1898
1902
1902
1902
1902
1905
1905
1905
1907
1910
1910
1910
1937
1937
1941
1970
