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CHistory
History · Greenwood

Greenwood dates to 1856, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1918 on, and the census since 1880.

1856founded
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Greenwood’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Greenwood began

When was Greenwood founded?

1856

Greenwood dates its founding to 1856 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 109 in 18802020 census: 990170 years

How historic is Greenwood?

C

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1834.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Greenwood’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenwood is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Greenwood’s overall grade.
Founding era1856, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194018.0% of homes (±6.7) · typical DE town 5.9% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical DE town 29.4 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 35%
NewerOlder

Delaware towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Delaware town has 29.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Greenwood’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (14% of Delaware towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points). Two sources give 1856.

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 Greenwood’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 19185 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1992. Watch Greenwood change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Greenwood’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGreen Valley Motel, U. S. Route 13, Gre…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Greenwood on the map, 1918 to 1992

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

Greenwood on the 1918 USGS mapGreenwood on the 1944 USGS mapGreenwood on the 1955 USGS mapGreenwood on the 1981 USGS mapGreenwood on the 1992 USGS map1918Harrington 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 Greenwood.

The story

How Greenwood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greenwood.

Read it all →

The Richards Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

The official Delaware snow depth record was established near Greenwood on February 7, 2010, after the February 5–6, 2010 North American blizzard resulted in a measurement of 28 inches. The record was measured at the Greenwood 2.9 SE station of the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Greenwood, 1834 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1834Post officeThe Saint Johnstown post office opens
  3. 1850Born hereThomas Alexander Smith is born here
  4. 1856
    FoundingGreenwood is established
  5. 1862Post officeThe Saint Johnstown post office closes
  6. 1862Post officeThe Greenwood post office opens
  7. 1867Born hereSimeon S. Pennewill is born here
  8. 1878Born hereHugh M. Morris is born here
  9. 1889Born hereEarle D. Willey is born here
  10. 20th century
  11. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1930In the archiveGreen Valley Motel, U. S. Route 13, Greenwood, Delaware (87041)
By decade

Greenwood, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Green Valley Motel, U. S. Route 13, Greenwood, Delaware (87041)c. 1930Green Valley Motel, U. S. Route 13, Greenwood, Delawa…
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
Date unknown1 to date
Locust Grove, State Roads 34 & 32Date?Locust Grove, State Roads 34 & 32
Today9 recent
EF2 damage Greenwood, Delaware 20232023EF2 damage Greenwood, Delaware 2023Greenwood, Delaware 2020g2020Greenwood, Delaware 2020gGreenwood, Delaware 2020f2020Greenwood, Delaware 2020fGreenwood, Delaware 2020e2020Greenwood, Delaware 2020eGreenwood, Delaware 2020d2020Greenwood, Delaware 2020dGreenwood, Delaware 2020c2020Greenwood, Delaware 2020cGreenwood, Delaware 2020b2020Greenwood, Delaware 2020bGreenwood, Delaware 2020a2020Greenwood, Delaware 2020aGreenwood DE railroad tracks2014Greenwood DE railroad tracks
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.

Green Valley Motel, U. S. Route 13, Greenwood, Delaware (87041)
Retake this viewGreen Valley Motel, U. S. Route 13, Greenwood, Delaware (87041), c. 1930

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Greenwood, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020990

Grew from 109 people in 1880 to 990 in 2020, 9 times over.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Greenwood’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Greenwood

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Simeon S. PennewillAmerican politician · b. 1867
Earle D. WilleyAmerican lawyer · b. 1889
Thomas Alexander SmithAmerican politician from Maryland · b. 1850
H
Hugh M. MorrisAmerican judge · b. 1878
M
Mary Rawlinson CreasonAmerican aviator · b. 1924
Mary Ann Sorden StuartRepresentative of the movement for woman suffra… · b. 1828
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Greenwood’s post office has been open since 1862. Another post office, Saint Johnstown, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Saint Johnstown
1834–1862
Greenwood
1862–today
18301930today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Greenwood’s history

What year was Greenwood founded?

In 1856, according to Wikidata. Greenwood’s post office opened in 1834, and the census of 1880 counted 109 people here.

How does Greenwood rank for history?

Greenwood is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. 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.

How old are the homes in Greenwood?

18% of Greenwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Delaware town; the median home was built in 1985.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (10), the Library of Congress (1), 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) 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.