Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 14 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1790.
The South Hero post office opened in 1813, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Keelers Bay (1870), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, South Hero is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. 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 South Hero’s 113 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 18 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how South Hero’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1900 and 1950, then more than doubled.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on South Hero’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of South Hero. 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 South Hero.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of South Hero yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
South Hero is a town on Grand Isle in Grand Isle County, Vermont, United States. South Hero's population was 1,674 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1813. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,631 to 1,674 (+3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJewett W. Adams is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveHorse and buggy which is used for carrying mail at South Hero. Grand Isle County, VermontOne decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2017Giant pumpkin outside the Blue Paddle Bistro
2017A handsome llama, which shares a small pasture with s…
2017This llama shares its farmland home with a number of …
2017Islanders Farm pumpkin stand
2017Hay barn with conveyor
2017Small octagonal barn
2017Harbor
2017Fqhc
2014South Hero VT town hall
2014South Hero VT Volunteer Fire Department
2006South Hero VT 3
2005South Hero VT 2
2004South hero vt highlight
2000South Hero VT 1No 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 South Hero’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
South Hero’s post office has been open since 1813. Another post office, Keelers Bay, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The South Hero post office opened in 1813, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
South Hero 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.
Two places: the South Hero Inn (listed 1975) and the South Hero Village Historic District (2024).
18% of South Hero’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (10), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
1941
1941