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History · Goofy Ridge

13% of Goofy Ridge’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1929 on.

0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Goofy Ridge’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 Goofy Ridge are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Goofy Ridge’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Goofy Ridge’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

How Goofy Ridge came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Goofy Ridge.

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According to American Journal by Gary Gladstone, Goofy Ridge got its name thus:

Years back it was just The Ridge, a camp near the river bank where moonshiners and other carousers met weekly to do their drinking. After some serious drinking one night, a local game warden said he wasn't too drunk to shoot a walnut off the head of a volunteer. Naturally, someone was drunk enough to volunteer. The game warden placed the tiny target on the volunteer's head, aimed his .22 rifle, and shot the nut right off. This caper was called by a witness "one damned goofy thing to do," and the camp was ever after known as Goofy Ridge.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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

Goofy Ridge on the map, 1929 to 1996

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

Goofy Ridge on the 1929 USGS mapGoofy Ridge on the 1932 USGS mapGoofy Ridge on the 1982 USGS mapGoofy Ridge on the 1996 USGS map1929Manito 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 Goofy Ridge.

Famous people

Famous people close to Goofy Ridge

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

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Steven R. NagelAmerican astronaut · b. 1946
B
Barbara MertzAmerican novelist and Egyptologist · b. 1927
Jack FiskAmerican production designer and director · b. 1945
Pat HarmonAmerican actor · b. 1886
Charles Edgar DuryeaAmerican automobile manufacturer · b. 1861
William E. HullAmerican politician from Illinois · b. 1866

Questions about Goofy Ridge’s history

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

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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 Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.