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A+History
History · Rockingham

Rockingham dates to 1752, and 56% of its homes were built before 1940

Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #2 of 71 in Vermont. What drives it

24 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Rockingham Meetinghouse, a National Historic Landmark, and ten historic districts with 595 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1790.

1752founded
24on the National Register
56%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
9famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Rockingham’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Rockingham began

When was Rockingham founded?

1752

Rockingham dates its founding to 1752 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 1,235 in 17902020 census: 4,832274 years

How historic is Rockingham?

A+

Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1801.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Rockingham’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rockingham is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #2 of 71 in Vermont. All 3 inputs put Rockingham near the top nationally; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest.

A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rockingham’s overall grade.
Founding era1752, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194055.7% of homes (±6.5) · typical VT town 22.4% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register24 listings, 611 historic buildings, 1,271 per 10,000 residents · typical VT town 147 · U.S. 2.4A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Among the top 1%
NewerOlder
Vermont towns of 2,500+ (71)#2 of 71

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 Rockingham’s 1,271 sits above most of its state (99% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 611 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1752.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.5 points).

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Rockingham’s past

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

A historic districtThe Bellows Falls Neighborhood Historic District takes in 271 historic buildings.A National Historic Landmark24 places on the National Register, including Rockingham Meetinghouse, a National Historic Landmark.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Rockingham, and 5 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Rockingham’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

24 listings protect 611 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
24
National Historic Landmark
1
Rockingham Meetinghouse
historic buildings protected
611
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Bartonsville Covered Bridge
Hall Covered BridgeMiss Bellows Falls DinerMoore and Thompson Paper Mill Complex, built 1880Adams Gristmill WarehouseBellows Falls Co-operative Creamery ComplexBellows Falls Times Building, built 1931Gas Station at Bridge and Island Streets, built 1935Howard Hardware StorehouseOak Hill Cemetery ChapelWilliams River Route 5 BridgeParker Hill Rural Historic DistrictWilliam A. Hall House, built 1892Bellows Falls Neighborhood Historic DistrictGeorge-Pine-Henry Street Historic DistrictWestminster Terrace Historic DistrictWilliams Street Extension Historic DistrictBartonsville Covered Bridge, built 1870Worrall Covered BridgeBellows Falls Downtown Historic DistrictSaxtons River Village Historic DistrictRobertson Paper Company ComplexRockingham Village Historic DistrictVermont Academy Campus Historic DistrictRockingham Meetinghouse★
BuildingsDistrictsStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival7
Greek Revival7
Queen Anne6
Federal5
Italianate4
Gothic Revival2
★ Landmark
Rockingham MeetinghouseBuilding
Hall Covered BridgeStructure
Miss Bellows Falls DinerBuilding
Moore and Thompson Paper Mill ComplexBuilt 1880
Adams Gristmill WarehouseBuilding
Bellows Falls Co-operative Creamery ComplexBuilding
Bellows Falls Times BuildingColonial Revival · Built 1931
Gas Station at Bridge and Island StreetsColonial Revival · Built 1935
All 24 listings
Howard Hardware StorehouseBuilding · listed 1990Oak Hill Cemetery ChapelBuilding · listed 1991Williams River Route 5 BridgeStructure · listed 1991Parker Hill Rural Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1993William A. Hall HouseBuilding · listed 1999Bellows Falls Neighborhood Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2002George-Pine-Henry Street Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2010Westminster Terrace Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2010Williams Street Extension Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2010Bartonsville Covered BridgeStructure · listed 1973Worrall Covered BridgeStructure · listed 1973Bellows Falls Downtown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1982Saxtons River Village Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1988Robertson Paper Company ComplexBuilding · listed 1990Rockingham Village Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2008Vermont Academy Campus Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2015

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Rockingham had its own post office from 1801 to 1908. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bellows Falls
1801–today
Rockingham
1801–1908
Saxtons River
1818–today
Cambridgeport
1834–today
Lagrange
1835–1837
Bartonville
1842–1976
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BartonsvilleBellows FallsBrockways MillsHyde HillSaxtons River
Gone or out of use
Adams Grist MilllocaleMoore and Thompson Paper Milllocale
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Rockingham
CambridgeportImmanuelOliver LovellRestlandRockingham Meeting HouseSaxtons RiverWilliams River - WrightWright - Bartonsville

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

The story

How Rockingham came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Rockingham.

Read it all →

One of the New Hampshire grants, it was chartered by Governor Benning Wentworth on December 28, 1752, and named for Lord Rockingham. The township was granted to Samuel Johnson and 72 others. When the Town was first settled in 1753 by pioneers, its rivers were sites of fishing for salmon and shad, as they had been for the original indigenous inhabitants. By 1771, the population reached 225. In 1785, Colonel Enoch Hale erected the first bridge over the Connecticut River, and until 1796, it remained the only bridge across. The village of Bellows Falls became an important mill town, which reduced the runs of palatable fish.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Rockingham in 1907

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

other towns as follows : "I give the inhabitants and their successors of my native town of Rockingham in Windham county and state of Vermont, $20,000, wishing the lawful authorities and their successors of said town of Rockingham to invest the amount of this bequest and keep it safely invested in p…
History of the town of Rockingham, Vermont, including the villages of Bellows Falls, Saxtons River, Rockingham, Cambridgeport and Bartonsville, 1753-1907, with family genealogies1907 · page 475Read the page →
Read the text

other towns as follows : "I give the inhabitants and their successors of my native town of Rockingham in Windham county and state of Vermont, $20,000, wishing the lawful authorities and their successors of said town of Rockingham to invest the amount of this bequest and keep it safely invested in productive real estate or interest paying securities, and use the annual income of the investment in aid and support of the Indigent Poor and Paupers of said town of Rockingham ; I give the inhabitants and their successors of four towns in Windsor

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
330 Hislory of Rockingham Because of the fact of the Rutland road's having seven or eight miles of its line built through the town of Rockingham, that line has always been more closely identified with this town than the others, which only barely touch the village of Bellows Falls. In the early days…
History of the town of Rockingham, Vermont, including the villages of Bellows Falls, Saxtons River, Rockingham, Cambridgeport and Bartonsville, 1753-1907, with family genealogies1907 · page 330Read the page →
Read the text

330 Hislory of Rockingham Because of the fact of the Rutland road's having seven or eight miles of its line built through the town of Rockingham, that line has always been more closely identified with this town than the others, which only barely touch the village of Bellows Falls. In the early days of railroads, this road was advertised as extending " from Burlington to Rockingham," and Bellows Falls was hardly known as even a station on

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.

Timeline

Rockingham, 1752 to 2000

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1752
    FoundingRockingham is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1801Post officeThe Bellows Falls post office opens
  5. 1801Post officeThe Rockingham post office opens
  6. 1811Born hereJonathan Blanchard is born here
  7. 1817Born hereWarren Felt Evans is born here
  8. 1818Post officeThe Saxtons River post office opens
  9. 1829Born hereSelim Peabody is born here
  10. 1835Born hereHenry Franklin Severens is born here
  11. 1880BuiltMoore and Thompson Paper Mill Complex is built
  12. 1892BuiltWilliam A. Hall House is built
  13. 20th century
  14. 1900In the archiveOldest church in Vermont
  15. 1908Post officeThe Rockingham post office closes
  16. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  17. 1931BuiltBellows Falls Times Building is built
  18. 1933In the archiveDavid Pulsifer Inn, Route 103
  19. 1935BuiltGas Station at Bridge and Island Streets is built
  20. 21st century
  21. 2000LandmarkRockingham Meetinghouse named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Rockingham, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1930s11 items
Oldest church in Vermont1900Oldest church in VermontWilliams River at Rockingham, Vt1900Williams River at Rockingham, VtDavid Pulsifer Inn, Route 1031933David Pulsifer Inn, Route 103David Pulsifer Inn, Route 1031933David Pulsifer Inn, Route 103David Pulsifer Inn, Route 1031933David Pulsifer Inn, Route 103David Pulsifer Inn, Route 1031933David Pulsifer Inn, Route 103David Pulsifer Inn, Route 1031933David Pulsifer Inn, Route 103David Pulsifer Inn, Route 1031933David Pulsifer Inn, Route 103David Pulsifer Inn, Route 1031933David Pulsifer Inn, Route 103Elias Olcott House, Upper Meadows Settlement on old, colonial Connecticut Turnpike1933Elias Olcott House, Upper Meadows Settlement on old, …Elias Olcott House, Upper Meadows Settlement on old, colonial Connecticut Turnpike1933Elias Olcott House, Upper Meadows Settlement on old, …
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today6 recent
RockinghamVT US5 WilliamsRiverBridge DeckView2016RockinghamVT US5 WilliamsRiverBridge DeckViewRockinghamVT ParkerHillRuralHD 52016RockinghamVT ParkerHillRuralHD 5RockinghamVT ParkerHillRuralHD 42016RockinghamVT ParkerHillRuralHD 4RockinghamVT ParkerHillRuralHD 12016RockinghamVT ParkerHillRuralHD 1Vermont Country Store2006Vermont Country StoreRockingham vt highlight2004Rockingham vt highlight
On the map

Rockingham on the map, 1927 to 1998

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

Rockingham on the 1927 USGS mapRockingham on the 1930 USGS mapRockingham on the 1957 USGS mapRockingham on the 1985 USGS mapRockingham on the 1998 USGS map1927Bellows Falls 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 Rockingham.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Oldest church in Vermont
Retake this viewOldest church in Vermont, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Rockingham’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Rockingham, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,50018001850190019502000Peak: 6,231

Between 1,235 and 6,231 people in every census since 1790.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Famous people

9 famous people were born in Rockingham

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

See all →
Warren Felt EvansAmerican New Thought writer · b. 1817
Jonathan BlanchardAmerican academic and pastor · b. 1811
Selim PeabodyAmerican educator · b. 1829
Henry Franklin SeverensUnited States federal judge · b. 1835
George Olcott ProctorAmerican politician, Massachusetts · b. 1847
K
Kelley TullyAmerican politician from Vermont
Help out

Finish Rockingham’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOldest church in Vermont: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Bellows Falls15 historic placesA+Westminster1 historic placeASpringfield10 historic placesA+North WestminsterIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrafton11 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Rockingham’s history

What year was Rockingham founded?

In 1752, according to Wikidata. Rockingham’s post office opened in 1801, and the first U.S. census counted 1,235 people here in 1790.

How does Rockingham rank for history?

Rockingham is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #2 of 71 in Vermont. 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 Rockingham?

24 listings: 10 buildings, among them the Rockingham Meetinghouse (a National Historic Landmark since 2000), 10 historic districts with 595 contributing buildings, and 4 structures. 611 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Rockingham?

56% of Rockingham’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1938.

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 (15), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (24), 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.