Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Vershire

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Vershire

Vershire dates to 1781, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1790.

1781founded
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Jared and Corin · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Vershire began

When was Vershire founded?

1781

Vershire dates its founding to 1781 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 439 in 17902020 census: 672245 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1827.The full story ↓

What stands out about Vershire’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Vershire are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1880 and 1960, then more than doubled.On the map since 18963 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1981. Watch Vershire change.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Vershire, and 7 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vershire’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Vershire, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000180018501900195020001,875 in 1880Low: 236

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1880 and 1960, then more than doubled.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

On the map

Vershire on the map, 1896 to 1981

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

Vershire on the 1896 USGS mapVershire on the 1944 USGS mapVershire on the 1981 USGS map1896Strafford 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 Vershire.

The story

How Vershire came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vershire.

Read it all →

The town and a village were renamed "Ely" in 1880 after the Ely Mining Company, which mined copper. This changed in 1883, when 200 miners seized the plant demanding back wages. Five companies of the National Guard were called out to suppress the miners. It is the home of The Mountain School of Milton Academy, a selective independent semester program that provides academically motivated high school juniors from across the country the opportunity to live and work on a farm.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vershire, 1781 to 1906

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1781
    FoundingVershire is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1810Born hereHenry Keyes is born here
  5. 1827Post officeThe Vershire post office opens
  6. 1840Born hereFanny Titus Hazen is born here
  7. 1866Born hereGeorge Franklin Morris is born here
  8. 1880CensusPopulation peaks at 1,875
  9. 1887Born hereHarris Sawyer Richardson is born here
  10. 1892Post officeThe Copperfield post office opens
  11. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 20th century
  13. 1906Post officeThe Copperfield post office closes
By decade

Vershire, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Another dorm2012Another dorm2006 library20062006 libraryVershire vt highlight2004Vershire vt highlight
Famous people

4 famous people were born in Vershire

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

See all →
George Franklin MorrisUnited States federal judge · b. 1866
Harris Sawyer RichardsonAmerican politician in Massachusetts · b. 1887
H
Henry KeyesAmerican politician · b. 1810
Fanny Titus HazenArmy nurse in American Civil War · b. 1840
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Vershire’s post office has been open since 1827. Another post office, Copperfield, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Vershire
1827–today
Copperfield
1892–1906
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BeanvilleBrimstone CornerCopperfieldMill VillageSouth VershireVershire CenterVershire Heights
Gone or out of use
Ely Minemine
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Vershire
Norris-DavisSmith - Mill VillageSouth VershireSpear - NorrisTaylor ValleyVershire CenterVershire VillageWarren

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.

Chelsea3 historic placesA+Strafford2 historic placesA+CorinthIts storyB+

Questions about Vershire’s history

What year was Vershire founded?

In 1781, according to Wikidata. Vershire’s post office opened in 1827, and the first U.S. census counted 439 people here in 1790.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (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.