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History · Wardsboro

Wardsboro dates to 1779, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1790.

1779founded
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Wardsboro’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Wardsboro began

When was Wardsboro founded?

1779

Wardsboro dates its founding to 1779 (Wikipedia’s history). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 753 in 17902020 census: 869247 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1817.The full story ↓

What stands out about Wardsboro’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Wardsboro, and 4 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1800 and 1960, then more than doubled.On the map since 18944 editions of the USGS map, 1894 to 1997. Watch Wardsboro change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Wardsboro’s post office has been open since 1853. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Wardsborough
1817–1853
Hammonds Mill
1832–1846
North Wardsboro
1832–1853
West Wardsboro
1846–today
South Wardsboro
1853–1933
Wardsboro
1853–today
Wardsboro Center
1892–1913
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
PodunkSouth WardsboroWardsboro CenterWest Wardsboro
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Wardsboro
FairviewSouth WardsboroWest Wardsboro

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Wardsboro’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wardsboro’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 viewMain Street: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Wardsboro, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600180018501900195020001,484 in 1800Low: 322

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1800 and 1960, then more than doubled.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

The story

How Wardsboro came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wardsboro.

Read it all →

The town was settled circa 1779 by Samuel Davis and his wife from Milford, Massachusetts. It was granted and chartered on November 7, 1780, to William Ward of Newfane, for whom the town was named Wardsborough, together with 62 others. In 1788, it was divided into north and south districts, the latter set off and incorporated in 1810 as Dover. Although the terrain is very uneven and in parts rocky, farmers worked the soil into productivity.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Wardsboro, 1779 to 1915

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1779
    FoundingWardsboro is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1800CensusPopulation peaks at 1,484
  5. 1817Post officeThe Wardsborough post office opens
  6. 1832Post officeThe Hammonds Mill post office opens
  7. 1832Post officeThe North Wardsboro post office opens
  8. 1846Post officeThe Hammonds Mill post office closes
  9. 1853Post officeThe Wardsborough post office closes
  10. 1853Post officeThe North Wardsboro post office closes
  11. 1894On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 20th century
  13. 1915In the archiveMain Street
By decade

Wardsboro, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s2 items
Main Streetc. 1915Main StreetOld Churchc. 1915Old Church
1920s–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
Today9 recent
The road2014The roadWorld Wars memorial - Wardsboro, Vermont - DSC084022013World Wars memorial - Wardsboro, Vermont - DSC08402US Post Office, 05355 - Wardsboro, Vermont - DSC083972013US Post Office, 05355 - Wardsboro, Vermont - DSC08397History House - Wardsboro, Vermont - DSC083982013History House - Wardsboro, Vermont - DSC08398General Store - Wardsboro, Vermont - DSC084002013General Store - Wardsboro, Vermont - DSC08400Monument in2010Monument inHouse in2010House inA church in2010A church inWardsboro vt highlight2004Wardsboro vt highlight
On the map

Wardsboro on the map, 1894 to 1997

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

Wardsboro on the 1894 USGS mapWardsboro on the 1957 USGS mapWardsboro on the 1986 USGS mapWardsboro on the 1997 USGS map1894Londonderry 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 Wardsboro.

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.

Main Street
Retake this viewMain Street, c. 1915

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

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Stratton1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNewfane3 historic placesA+Townshend8 historic placesAJamaicaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDover4 historic placesB+

Questions about Wardsboro’s history

What year was Wardsboro founded?

In 1779, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Wardsboro’s post office opened in 1817, and the first U.S. census counted 753 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 (11), Wikipedia, 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.