3 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Brown Bridge, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1790.
The Shrewsbury post office opened in 1809, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Finneysville (1825), North Shrewsbury (1871) and Cold River (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 383 in 17902020 census: 1,096217 years
How historic is Shrewsbury?
A−
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Shrewsbury post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Shrewsbury’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Shrewsbury is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Shrewsbury’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 Shrewsbury’s 32.3 sits near the middle of its state (42% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.8 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 Shrewsbury’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Shrewsbury, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Shrewsbury yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Shrewsbury is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for the Earl of Shrewsbury. The population was 1,096 at the 2020 census. Shrewsbury was the home of the late U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords. In 1986/87, the town received worldwide attention from the media, when a moose spent 76 days unsuccessfully courting a local farmer's cow. A book, A Moose for Jessica was written about the story.
Its first post office opened in 1809. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,056 to 1,096 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Shrewsbury in 1886
Passages that mention Shrewsbury, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1886Read the page →
Read the text
There is in town but one village of importance, viz., Cuttingsville, although tliere is a settlement called Northani, or North Shrewsbury, four miles northeast from Cuttingsville, which contains one store, a saw-mill and a church, and another at the middle of the town, so called, or Shrewsbury post-office.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1886 · page 901Read the page →
Read the text
KINGSLEY, HARRISON, of Clarendon, was born on the 29th of August, 1S13, in the town of Shrewsbury, near the Clarendon line. His lather was Chester Kingsley, a descendant of one of four brothers who came to this country from England at an early day. He removed from New York State to Shrewsbury, locating about a mile east of the hamlet of East Ckirendon, and there built a carding and cloth-dressing mill. The carrying on of this line of business constituted his life-work. He remained there until 1825, when he placed his establishment in charge of his son Harvey (now living in Rutland), and removed with his fannly to East Clarendon, where theie is a fine water-power, with a carding and cloth-dressing ,
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
Shrewsbury, 1786 to 2014
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Shrewsbury post office opened in 1809, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Shrewsbury rank for history?
Shrewsbury is more historic than 82% 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 Shrewsbury?
Three places: the Brown Bridge (listed 2014), the Brown Covered Bridge (1974) and the Laurel Glen Mausoleum-Laurel Hall (1998).
How old are the homes in Shrewsbury?
27% of Shrewsbury’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.8 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (16), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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