Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1892 on.
The Swanton post office opened in 1804, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Swanton is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Swanton’s 15.0 sits below most of its state (27% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% 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 Swanton’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1892Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Swanton. 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 Swanton.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Swanton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1804. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,386 to 2,328 (-2%).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
2 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 Swanton’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.
Nobody well known was born in Swanton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Swanton post office opened in 1804, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Swanton is more historic than 85% 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.
42% of Swanton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.0 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1952.
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 (12), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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