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B+History
History · Vernon

Vernon dates to 1672, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Vernon was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Its Register listings are the Pond Road Chapel, the Vernon District Schoolhouse No. 4 and the Governor Hunt House. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1790.

1672founded
2on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Vernon’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Vernon began

When was Vernon founded?

1672

Vernon dates its founding to 1672 (Wikipedia’s history). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 482 in 17902020 census: 2,192354 years

How historic is Vernon?

B+

More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1820.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Vernon’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Vernon is more historic than 66% 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 Vernon’s overall grade.
Founding era1672, from Wikipedia: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 19408.5% of homes (±4.4) · typical VT town 22.4% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register2 listings, 7.4 per 10,000 residents · typical VT town 147 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 66%
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 Vernon’s 7.4 sits below most of its state (18% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1672.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.4 points).

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Vernon’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1850 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.Older than the countryEstablished in 1672, 104 years before the Declaration of Independence.On the map since 18914 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1984. Watch Vernon change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vernon’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vernon’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOne of the children of Ernest Johnson, …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Vernon, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018001850190019502000821 in 1850Low: 556

Lost a third of its people between 1850 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Vernon’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Vernon, 1672 to 2010

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 17th century
  2. 1672
    FoundingVernon is established
  3. 18th century
  4. 1764BuiltGovernor Hunt House is built
  5. 1787Born hereJonathan Hunt is born here
  6. 19th century
  7. 1809Born hereRachel Oakes Preston is born here
  8. 1820Post officeThe Vernon post office opens
  9. 1824Born hereGeorge Howe is born here
  10. 1856Born hereJohn E. Moran is born here
  11. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 20th century
  13. 1941In the archiveOne of the children of Ernest Johnson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client. Vernon,…
  14. 21st century
  15. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 2,206
The story

How Vernon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vernon.

Read it all →

The town was chartered in 1672 as part of the Massachusetts Grant. In 1736 the area was granted by Massachusetts as part of Fall Town, and in 1753 the area was granted as Hinsdale. When the Connecticut River was established as a boundary, two separate towns were created: Hinsdale, New Hampshire and Hinsdale, Vermont. The people who lived in Hinsdale, Vermont wanted a separate name, and in 1802 the Vermont legislature changed the town's name to Vernon. The name is said to have been chosen after President George Washington's plantation home, Mount Vernon.

Fort Bridgman, in Vernon, was burned in 1755, a casualty of the French and Indian War.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Vernon, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s2 items
One of the children of Ernest Johnson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client. Vernon, Vermont1941One of the children of Ernest Johnson, FSA (Farm Secu…One of the children of Ernest Johnson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) borrower near Vernon, Vermont1941One of the children of Ernest Johnson, FSA (Farm Secu…
1950s–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 album
Today8 recent
The Vernon Historians Museum 4201 Fort Bridgman Road Vernon VT July 20242024The Vernon Historians Museum 4201 Fort Bridgman Road …VernonVT PondRoadChapel2016VernonVT PondRoadChapelVernonVT GovernorHuntHouse2016VernonVT GovernorHuntHouseVernonVT District4School 22016VernonVT District4School 2VernonVT District4School 12016VernonVT District4School 1Vernonvt2004VernonvtVernon vt highlight2004Vernon vt highlightVernon, Vermont2003Vernon, Vermont
On the map

Vernon on the map, 1891 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Vernon. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Vernon on the 1891 USGS mapVernon on the 1935 USGS mapVernon on the 1954 USGS mapVernon on the 1984 USGS map1891Brattleboro sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Vernon.

Then & 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.

One of the children of Ernest Johnson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client. Vernon, Vermont
Retake this viewOne of the children of Ernest Johnson, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client. Vernon, Vermont, 1941

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Vernon’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Vernon

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
1985
Pond Road Chapel
Pond Road ChapelGovernor Hunt House, built 1764
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival2
Pond Road ChapelGreek Revival
Vernon District Schoolhouse No. 4Greek Revival
Governor Hunt HouseBuilt 1764

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Vernon

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Jonathan HuntPolitician from the U.S. state of Vermont · b. 1787
John E. MoranPhilippine-American War Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1856
R
Rachel Oakes PrestonAmerican writer · b. 1809
G
George HoweAmerican lawyer and politician · b. 1824
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Vernon’s post office has been open since 1820.

Hamlets and corners on the map
North VernonSouth Vernon
Gone or out of use
Blodgett Airportairport
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Vernon
NorthSouthStebbinsTylerWhithed

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.

Guilford6 historic placesABrattleboro17 historic placesA+

Questions about Vernon’s history

What year was Vernon founded?

In 1672, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Vernon’s post office opened in 1820, and the first U.S. census counted 482 people here in 1790.

How does Vernon rank for history?

Vernon is more historic than 66% 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 Vernon?

2 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Pond Road Chapel (listed 1985, the first).

How old are the homes in Vernon?

9% of Vernon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1979.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (8), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.