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C+History
History · Wood River Township

Wood River Township’s post office opened in 1907, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #470 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1910.

1907first post office
1on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Wood River Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Wood River Township began

When was Wood River Township founded?

1907

The Wood River Township post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1908.

First census: 84 in 19102020 census: 29,938119 years

How historic is Wood River Township?

C+

More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Wood River Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1908.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Wood River Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wood River Township is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #470 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wood River Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1907, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194017.8% of homes (±2.4) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 0.3 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 40%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 39%

Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Wood River Township’s 0.3 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1908 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

Founding year: the first post office (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 Wood River Township’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages5 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Wood River Township’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wood River Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wood River Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWood River Refinery: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Cottage HillsForest HomesKendall HillOakwood HeightsRosedale
Gone or out of use
Ringering Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Wood River Township
Woodland Hill

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

The story

How Wood River Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wood River Township.

Read it all →

Wood River developed as a company town around an oil refinery. The Standard Oil Company broke ground on a refinery near the site in April 1907, and the plant began operating at the start of 1908. The community was founded in 1907; it merged with the neighboring settlement of East Wood River in 1910 and with Benbow City in 1917, and was chartered as a city in 1923.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Wood River Township, 1908 to 1961

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1908In the archiveWood River Refinery
  3. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1928In the archiveEvery customer satisfied
  5. 1931Post officeThe Cottage Hills post office opens
  6. 1961In the archiveO Domo de Wood River, Estados Unidos
By decade

Wood River Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1920s2 items
Wood River Refinery1908Wood River RefineryEvery customer satisfied1928Every customer satisfied
1930s–1950snothing 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
1960s1 item
O Domo de Wood River, Estados Unidos1961O Domo de Wood River, Estados Unidos
1970s–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
Today9 recent
Wood River, Illinois2018Wood River, IllinoisWood River, Illinois2018Wood River, IllinoisWood River, Illinois2018Wood River, IllinoisWood River, Illinois2018Wood River, IllinoisWood River, Illinois2018Wood River, IllinoisWood River, Illinois2018Wood River, IllinoisNite Train2018Nite TrainCorner Bar2018Corner BarWood River2006Wood River
On the map

Wood River Township on the map, 1927 to 1994

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

Wood River Township on the 1927 USGS mapWood River Township on the 1934 USGS mapWood River Township on the 1948 USGS mapWood River Township on the 1951 USGS mapWood River Township on the 1968 USGS mapWood River Township on the 1974 USGS mapWood River Township on the 1994 USGS map1927Alton 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 Wood River Township.

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.

Wood River Refinery
Retake this viewWood River Refinery, 1908

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Wood River Township

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

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

People over time

Wood River Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 13,186

Between 84 and 13,186 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Alton13 historic placesA+Alton Township13 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEast AltonIts storyC+Foster Township1 historic placeBFort Russell TownshipIts storyC−Bethalto1 historic placeBRoxanaIts storyCChouteau TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Wood River Township’s history

What year was Wood River Township founded?

The Wood River Township post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1908.

How does Wood River Township rank for history?

Wood River Township is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #470 of 768 in Illinois. 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 Wood River Township?

18% of Wood River Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1958.

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 (2), Wikipedia, 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.