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History · Woodruff

Woodruff dates to 1876, and 100% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Woodruff Bridge. Below: maps from 1955 on.

1876founded
1on the National Register
100%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Woodruff began

When was Woodruff founded?

1876

Woodruff dates its founding to 1876 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1880.

2020 census: 154150 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1880.

What stands out about Woodruff’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Woodruff are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Woodruff’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Woodruff, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Woodruff yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Woodruff is an unincorporated community in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. Woodruff is 10.5 miles (16.9 km) southeast of Holbrook. Woodruff has a post office with ZIP code 85942. Woodruff was settled in 1876 by a group of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints led by Nathan Tenney and including Tenney's son Ammon M. Tenney. It was initially called Tenney's Settlement. In 1878 Lorenzo H. Hatch became the head of the LDS branch there. At that point it was named Woodruff after Wilford Woodruff.

Woodruff was established in 1876. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 191 to 154 (-19%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Woodruff, 1876 to 1955

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876
    FoundingWoodruff is established
  3. 1880Post officeThe Woodruff post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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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On the map

Woodruff on the map, 1955 to 1986

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

Woodruff on the 1955 USGS mapWoodruff on the 1986 USGS map1955St Joseph 1 SE sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Woodruff.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Woodruff

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Woodruff Bridge
Structures
All 1 listings
Woodruff BridgeStructure · listed 1988

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Woodruff

Nobody well known was born in Woodruff itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
J
Jeff FlakeAmerican diplomat and former United States sena… · b. 1962
Gene EvansActor · b. 1922
Mike BudenholzerAmerican basketball coach · b. 1969
J
Jake FlakeAmerican politician · b. 1935
C
Chester CrandellAmerican politician · b. 1946
J
John Hunt UdallAmerican politician · b. 1889

Questions about Woodruff’s history

What year was Woodruff founded?

In 1876, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Woodruff’s post office opened in 1880.

What is on the National Register in Woodruff?

One place: the Woodruff Bridge (listed 1988).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.