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CHistory
History · Wood River

Wood River’s post office opened in 1907, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #527 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1910.

1907first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
7famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Wood River’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Wood River began

When was Wood River founded?

1907

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

First census: 84 in 19102020 census: 10,464119 years

How historic is Wood River?

C

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Wood River’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wood River is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #527 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’s overall grade.
Founding era1907, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194028.1% of homes (±4.3) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 33%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 31%

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’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois 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 (±4.3 points). 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’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Wood River’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wood River’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewO Domo de Wood River, Estados Unidos: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Wood River came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wood River.

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.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Wood River, 1882–1912

Passages that mention Wood River, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Wolf, William, 1103 Wolf, William L., 1044 Wood, N. N., 119 Wood River Baptist church, 344 Wood River massacre, 609 Wood River monument, 321 Wood River public school (illustration), 614 Wood River township — First settlers, 607 ; Wood
Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 19121912Read the page →
Read the text

Wolf, William, 1103 Wolf, William L., 1044 Wood, N. N., 119 Wood River Baptist church, 344 Wood River massacre, 609 Wood River monument, 321 Wood River public school (illustration), 614 Wood River township — First settlers, 607 ; Wood

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
missed, to aid in forming a church on " the Fiasa, or Brown's Prairie," now Brighton church. March, 1837, the church numbered 129, and 12 were dismissed to form a church in the " Wood River settlement," named the " Bethel" church. In May, 1864, a branch of the church was formed near the mouth of Wo…
History of Madison County, Illinois ... With biographical sketches ..1882 · page 304Read the page →
Read the text

missed, to aid in forming a church on " the Fiasa, or Brown's Prairie," now Brighton church. March, 1837, the church numbered 129, and 12 were dismissed to form a church in the " Wood River settlement," named the " Bethel" church. In May, 1864, a branch of the church was formed near the mouth of Wood River, at a preaching station of theological students; and in June, 1867, forty-one were dismissed, to constitute this branch — an independent church,

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Wood River. — Thomas Rattan came from Ohio in 1804 to section 13 of Wood River township, giving the name “Rattan’s Prairie” to that neighborhood. Toliver Wright, a Vir¬ ginian and a captain of rangers in 1812, came to the western part of this township in 1806 and in 1808 Abel Moore, born in North C…
Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 19121912 · page 176Read the page →
Read the text

Wood River. — Thomas Rattan came from Ohio in 1804 to section 13 of Wood River township, giving the name “Rattan’s Prairie” to that neighborhood. Toliver Wright, a Vir¬ ginian and a captain of rangers in 1812, came to the western part of this township in 1806 and in 1808 Abel Moore, born in North Caro¬ lina and later a resident of Kentucky, settled

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Wood River. — Thomas Rattan came from Ohio in 1804 to section 13 of Wood River township, giving the name “Rattan’s Prairie” to that neighborhood. Toliver Wright, a Vir¬ ginian and a captain of rangers in 1812, came to the western part of this township in 1806 and in 1808 Abel Moore, born in North C…
Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois and Its People1912 · page 176Read the page →
Read the text

Wood River. — Thomas Rattan came from Ohio in 1804 to section 13 of Wood River township, giving the name “Rattan’s Prairie” to that neighborhood. Toliver Wright, a Vir¬ ginian and a captain of rangers in 1812, came to the western part of this township in 1806 and in 1808 Abel Moore, born in North Caro¬ lina and later a resident of Kentucky, settled

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

Wood River, 1907 to 1961

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907Post officeThe Wood River post office opens
  3. 1924Born hereEarl Dodd is born here
  4. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1934Born hereKen Retzer is born here
  6. 1953Born hereDean Winslow is born here
  7. 1954Born hereJean Stothert is born here
  8. 1961In the archiveO Domo de Wood River, Estados Unidos
By decade

Wood River, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

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
Today5 recent
Wood River, Illinois2018Wood River, IllinoisWood River, Illinois2018Wood River, IllinoisNite Train2018Nite TrainCorner Bar2018Corner BarWood River2006Wood River
On the map

Wood River on the map, 1927 to 1994

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

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

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.

O Domo de Wood River, Estados Unidos
Retake this viewO Domo de Wood River, Estados Unidos, 1961

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Wood River, 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’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

7 famous people were born in Wood River

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

See all →
Jean StothertMayor of Omaha, Nebraska, United States · b. 1954
Ken RetzerAmerican baseball player · b. 1934
Dean WinslowAmerican physician and professor (born c. 1953) · b. 1953
E
Earl DoddAmerican professional basketball player · b. 1924
Rachelle Aud CroweAmerican politician
D
Deanna SelfAmerican politician
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Wood River’s post office has been open since 1907.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Ivy Heights
Gone or out of use
Brushy Grove SchoolschoolChurch of ChristchurchFirst Evangelical United Brethren ChurchchurchWood River SchoolschoolWood River Township Hospitalhospital
1cemetery inside Wood River
Vaughn

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Rosewood HeightsIts storyC−East AltonIts storyC+RoxanaIts storyCBethalto1 historic placeBHartfordIts storyC

Questions about Wood River’s history

What year was Wood River founded?

The Wood River 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 rank for history?

Wood River is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #527 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?

28% of Wood River’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1955.

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 (6), 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.