Weathersfield’s post office opened in 1806, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns · #60 of 71 in Vermont. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 3 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1926 on, and the census since 1790.
From Weathersfield’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Weathersfield began
When was Weathersfield founded?
1806
The Weathersfield post office opened in 1806, the earliest record of the town by name. Six smaller post offices, Greenbush (1819), Corners (1830) and Upper Falls (1841), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,146 in 17902020 census: 2,842220 years
How historic is Weathersfield?
B+
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Weathersfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Weathersfield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Weathersfield is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #60 of 71 in Vermont. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Weathersfield’s overall grade.
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 Weathersfield’s 14.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% 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 (±5.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Weathersfield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town of Weathersfield was named after Wethersfield, Connecticut, the home of some of its earliest settlers. The Connecticut town had taken its name from Wethersfield, a village in the English county of Essex.
William Jarvis was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson as U.S. Consul General to Portugal after founding a trading house in Lisbon. In 1811, Jarvis imported the first Merino sheep to America from Spain to his farm at Weathersfield Bow. Jarvis set aside eight of the 4,000 Merino sheep he imported as gifts to former President Jefferson and to President James Madison.
Passages that mention Weathersfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1891 · page 467Read the page →
Read the text
holders, laid out the boundaries of the village March 1 1, 1833, in accordance with an act passed by the State November ii, 18 19, as follows: "Beginning at the west end of the bridge across Black River, near Joel Griswold, on the road by Timothy Williams, to Weathersfield line, from thence by Francis Griswold and by the brick meetiug-house to Isaac Williams, and also by Oliver Cook to the bridge across the big brook, from thence by Moses White's on the road through the village to the place of beginning; and also from the old schoolhouse across the
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.
Timeline
Weathersfield, 1804 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Weathersfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1926Claremont 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 Weathersfield.
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.
Retake this viewWeathersfield Vermont early 1900s, c. 1900
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Weathersfield’s page.
The Weathersfield post office opened in 1806, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Weathersfield rank for history?
Weathersfield is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #60 of 71 in Vermont. 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 Weathersfield?
4 listings: 2 historic districts, the Weathersfield Center Historic District and the Wilgus State Park, with 3 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 1 structure.
How old are the homes in Weathersfield?
16% of Weathersfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (9), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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), 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.
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