Woodstock dates to 1686, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns · #75 of 155 in Connecticut. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Henry C. Bowen House, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 65 buildings. 7 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Henry C. Bowen House, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 65 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1820.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1810.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Woodstock’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Woodstock is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #75 of 155 in Connecticut. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Woodstock’s overall grade.
Connecticut towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Connecticut town has 73.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Woodstock’s 92.6 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Connecticut towns have fewer) while its 77 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1686.
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 (±4.1 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Woodstock’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In the mid-17th century, John Eliot, a Puritan missionary to the Native Americans, established "praying towns", where Native Americans took up Christianity and were expected to renounce their religious ceremonies, traditional dress, and customs. One praying town, called Wabaquasset (Senexet, Wabiquisset), six miles west of the Quinebaug River in present-day Woodstock, was the largest of the three northeastern Connecticut praying towns.
Passages that mention Woodstock, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Woodstock, an historical sketch1886 · page 46Read the page →
Read the text
Woodstock's military glory is something of which she may well be proud. Representatives of the Morris, Bowen, Hubbard, and Johnson families, who came to Woodstock in 1686, fought under Captain Isaac Johnson, of Roxbury, in King Philip's War, and were in the famous Narragansett battle in 1675, when Captain Johnson was killed.' For the first forty years after the settlement of the town the Indian troubles made
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Woodstock, an historical sketch1886 · page 39Read the page →
Read the text
as Episcopacy or popery it was the Saybrook Platform." To be tainted with that form of faith, as was the case with Mr. Stiles after his settlement in Woodstock, was heresy indeed, and Woodstock was determined, according to her grant of 1683, to have none other but an able, orthodox, godly minister."
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
Woodstock, 1686 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.
In 1686, according to Wikidata. Woodstock’s post office opened in 1810, and the census of 1820 counted 3,017 people here.
How does Woodstock rank for history?
Woodstock is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #75 of 155 in Connecticut. 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 Woodstock?
7 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Henry C. Bowen House (a National Historic Landmark since 1992), and 1 historic district, the Woodstock Hill Historic District, with 65 contributing buildings. 77 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Woodstock?
11% of Woodstock’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 (15), the Library of Congress (9), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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.
1886
1980
1980
1980
1980
1980
1980
1980
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2010
2008
2007
2006
2004
2004
2004
★ Landmark
