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History · Wilder

Wilder’s post office opened in 1897, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1906 on.

1897first post office
2on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Wilder’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Wilder began

When was Wilder founded?

1897

The Wilder post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 3,071129 years
Founding year: the first Wilder post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Wilder’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.On the map since 19063 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1996. Watch Wilder change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wilder’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWilder Station, Wilder, Vt (83548): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Wilder on the map, 1906 to 1996

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

Wilder on the 1906 USGS mapWilder on the 1980 USGS mapWilder on the 1996 USGS map1906Hanover 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 Wilder.

The story

How Wilder came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wilder.

Read it all →

The village, originally known as Olcott Falls, is unique as an early planned community developed in part by Charles Wilder, owner of a local paper mill in the 1880s. One feature of Wilder's plan was an orderly street plan in which streets were laid out at right angles, with several of the streets named after trees. The village was renamed in honor of Charles Wilder in 1897.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Wilder, 1906 to 1930

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1917In the archiveWilder, Vermont (Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1917, LOC sanborn08960 004)
  4. 1930In the archiveWilder Station, Wilder, Vt (83548)
By decade

Wilder, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1930s2 items
Wilder, Vermont (Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1917, LOC sanborn08960 004)1917Wilder, Vermont (Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1917, LO…MapWilder Station, Wilder, Vt (83548)c. 1930Wilder Station, Wilder, Vt (83548)
1940s–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
Today4 recent
KIS Thrift 2635 Hartford Avenue (US Rte 5) Wilder VT March 2026 022026KIS Thrift 2635 Hartford Avenue (US Rte 5) Wilder VT …KIS Thrift 2635 Hartford Avenue (US Rte 5) Wilder VT March 2026 012026KIS Thrift 2635 Hartford Avenue (US Rte 5) Wilder VT …Saab 96 V4 Wilder VT October 20172017Saab 96 V4 Wilder VT October 2017Detailed map of2009Detailed map ofMap
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.

Wilder Station, Wilder, Vt (83548)
Retake this viewWilder Station, Wilder, Vt (83548), c. 1930

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 217 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
217
each building in a district counts

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hartford19 historic placesA+Hartford Village2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWhite River Junction5 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Wilder’s history

What year was Wilder founded?

The Wilder post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.