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History · Woodburn

Woodburn’s post office opened in 1874, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 1880.

1874first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Woodburn began

When was Woodburn founded?

1874

The Woodburn post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Ottawa (1855), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 371 in 18802020 census: 146152 years
Founding year: the first Woodburn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Woodburn’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 Woodburn are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 467 in 1900; 146 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Woodburn’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Woodburn, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 467

Peaked at 467 in 1900; 146 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Woodburn, in brief

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

Woodburn is a city in Clarke County, Iowa, United States. The population was 146 at the time of the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1874. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 202 to 146 (-28%).

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

Timeline

Woodburn, 1855 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855Post officeThe Ottawa post office opens
  3. 1873Born hereWalter S. Kennedy is born here
  4. 1874Post officeThe Ottawa post office closes
  5. 1874Post officeThe Woodburn post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 467
  8. 1950On 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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Woodburn on the map, 1950 to 1983

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

Woodburn on the 1950 USGS mapWoodburn on the 1983 USGS map1950New Virginia 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 Woodburn.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Woodburn’s post office has been open since 1874. Another post office, Ottawa, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Ottawa
1855–1874
Woodburn
1874–today
18501940today
1cemetery inside Woodburn
Woodburn

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

Questions about Woodburn’s history

What year was Woodburn founded?

The Woodburn post office opened in 1874, 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 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.