Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of West Pawlet yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
West Pawlet is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Pawlet, Rutland County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 220, slightly more than the population of the village of Pawlet at the town center.
Its first post office opened in 1852.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about West Pawlet in 1886
Passages that mention West Pawlet, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1886 · page 713Read the page →
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Town of Pawlet. 713 The First Baptist Church (located at West Pawlet) was organized on the first Monday in May, 1790, by its first pastor, Elder Brown. In the year 1800 a church was erected by the West Pawlet Meeting-house Company. Elder Isaac Beall was settled over the church in 1801 and in the following year a parsonage was built. This society was dissolved in 1 83 I.
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History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1886 · page 711Read the page →
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tion of distilleries, which, with the manufacture of potash, received considerable attention in this town ; they were the earliest manufactures. The growing of sheep gave a large wool product and the introduction of cardingmachines and cloth-dressing machines followed ; one of the latter was running in West Pawlet by Walter Jennings as early as 18 12. Jonathan Stevens and John Strong built a woolen factory at West Pawlet in 181 2, the first in town, and fulling-mills were in operation, probably before that time at the village. Other factories and mills have been noted in our mention of the early settlers. There have
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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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 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.
