According to Bellows Falls-based historian Lyman Simpson Hayes, writing in 1907’s History of the Town of Rockingham, the first settlement of the area that would become Saxtons River occurred in 1783, when Amos P. Cummings cut down the first trees of an “entirely unbroken wilderness of immense trees of primitive growth.” As late as 1795, there existed only two houses in the village — population growth was extremely slow.
Passages that mention Saxtons River, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the town of Rockingham, Vermont, including the villages of Bellows Falls, Saxtons River, Rockingham, Cambridgeport and Bartonsville, 1753-1907, with family genealogies1907Read the page →
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The village of Saxtons River is situated on the river of that name near the center of the southern boundary of the town of Rockingham. It is to-day a flourishing village of about nine hundred and fifty inhabitants, with a variety of mills and other industries. It is the location of Vermont Academy, the Baptist educational institution of Vermont.
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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 151Read the page →
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The village of Saxtons River, in which a settlement was first made in 1783, had become so populous that for the use of its residents as well as for the farmers of the vicinity a house of worship was desirable.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Saxtons River, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Saxtons River. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1930Saxtons River 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 Saxtons River.
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.
Retake this viewSaxtons River Hotel Pre-1903, 1907
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Saxtons River’s page.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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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