The story
Read it all →How Troy came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Troy.
Troy was chartered as "Missisquoi." It once produced over 400 short tons (360 t) of cast iron annually.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Troy
Troy dates to 1801, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the River Road Covered Bridge and the U.S. Inspection Station-North Troy, Vermont. Its Register listings are the River Road Covered Bridge and the U.S. Inspection Station-North Troy, Vermont. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1810.
1801founded
2on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Quick answers
How Troy began
When was Troy founded?
1801
Troy dates its founding to 1801 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1810.
First census: 231 in 18102020 census: 1,722225 years
How historic is Troy?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1823.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Troy’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Troy is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Troy’s overall grade.
Founding era1801, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194018.4% of homes (±4.9) · typical VT town 22.4% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register2 listings, 11.4 per 10,000 residents · typical VT town 147 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 69%
NewerOlder
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 Troy’s 11.4 sits below most of its state (23% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±4.9 points). Two sources give 1801.
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 →
What stands out about Troy’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Troy’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Troy’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Troy on the map, 1920 to 1986
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Troy. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1920Irasburg sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Troy.
Timeline
Troy, 1801 to 1968
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1801FoundingTroy is established
- 1823Post officeThe Troy post office opens
- 1829Post officeThe North Troy post office opens
- 1849Post officeThe West Newport post office opens
- 1873Post officeThe West Newport post office closes
- 20th century
- 1910
BuiltRiver Road Covered Bridge is built - 1920
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1936
In the archiveEroded Vermont dairy pasture near Troy, Vermont - 1968
In the archiveView of west abutment bridge seat connection details, looking west - River Road Bridge, S…
From the old history books
What they wrote about Troy in 1882
Passages that mention Troy, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Orleans county, Vermont. Civil, ecclesiastical, biographical and military1882 · page 316Read the page →
Read the text
and told him her receipt. It was nothing more nor less than a decoction of the inner bark of the spruce* The town of Troy, or as it was then called Missisco, was organized in March, 1802. According to the town record, the inhabitants were warned to meet on March 25, 1802, at 9 o'clock in the forenoon to organize the town
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Orleans county, Vermont. Civil, ecclesiastical, biographical and military1882 · page 155Read the page →
Read the text
which thirty additions took place. Sept. 24, 1817, 23 persons were set off to constitute a church in Newport. Apr. 13, 1818, 8 persons were set off to constitute a church in Troy. In 1825, 22 persons united with the church, and Thomas Wells and Thomas Baldwin were elected deacons. Mr. Ide's pastoral relation to the church continued nearly 16
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.
By decade
Troy, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1930s–1960s4 items
1936
19361970s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your albumToday1 recent
2004Then & 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 viewEroded Vermont dairy pasture near Troy, Vermont, 1936
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Troy’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
2 historic places in Troy
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
River Road Covered Bridge
BuildingsStructures
Architectural styles listings
Town Lattice Truss1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Troy, census by census
Between 227 and 1,898 people in every census since 1810.
22 censuses, 1810–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Troy’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Troy
Nobody well known was born in Troy itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Troy’s post office has been open since 1823. Another post office, West Newport, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Troy
North Troy
West Newport
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
North Troy
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Troy
EvergreenNorth TroyTroyWest Road
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Troy’s history
What year was Troy founded?
In 1801, according to Wikidata. Troy’s post office opened in 1823, and the census of 1810 counted 231 people here.
How does Troy rank for history?
Troy is more historic than 69% 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 Troy?
Two places: the River Road Covered Bridge (listed 1974) and the U.S. Inspection Station-North Troy, Vermont (2014).
How old are the homes in Troy?
18% of Troy’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1980.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 (2), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.