Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #38 of 71 in Vermont. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Robert Frost Farm, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 39 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1790.
Shaftsbury dates its founding to 1761 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
Shaftsbury was named after the Earl of Shaftesbury.
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Shaftsbury is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #38 of 71 in Vermont. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Shaftsbury’s 147 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 53 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Shaftsbury. 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 Shaftsbury.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Shaftsbury.
The town was chartered on August 20, 1761. It was named after the Earl of Shaftesbury.
In June 1843, escaped slaves hid at a Shaftsbury farm, in the first recorded instance in Vermont of the Underground Railroad.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltGov. Jonas Galusha Homestead is built
Born hereJacob M. Howard is born here
Born hereAbram B. Olin is born hereBuiltNorth Bennington Depot is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveWhite Pillar, West side of State Route 7, South
In the archiveFrostFarmSouthShaftsburyVT2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Shaftsbury’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,534 and 3,767 people in every census since 1790.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Shaftsbury’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Shaftsbury had its own post office from 1804 to 1943. Another post office, South Shaftsbury, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1761, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Shaftsbury’s post office opened in 1804, and the first U.S. census counted 1,999 people here in 1790.
Shaftsbury is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #38 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.
6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Robert Frost Farm (a National Historic Landmark since 1968), and 1 historic district, the Center Shaftsbury Historic District, with 39 contributing buildings. 53 historic buildings in all.
16% of Shaftsbury’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 Wikimedia Commons (8), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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