[1] The area that is now Guildhall village was first settled in the 1780s, when a dam was built across the adjacent Connecticut River, and saw- and gristmills were erected.

Eben Judd, proprietor of the mills in 1797, donated land for the common in that year to secure the town's role as the seat of the newly established Essex County.

The first county courthouse was built in 1803, followed by other civic, commercial, religious and residential buildings that now line the roughly square common.

The district includes all of the buildings facing the common, and extends for a short distance along VT 102 both north and west.

Prominent buildings in the district include the 1851 Greek Revival county courthouse, the 1844 Congregational church, and the former jail, jailer's house, and barn, all built c.