Windfall was founded by James B. Fouch in 1853. Fouch platted the land with the goal of securing a train station in order to earn business from the lucrative lumber trade. He built the first sawmill in 1853. A Christian church was built just outside Windfall in 1854. The congregation moved to Windfall in 1866. A Methodist church was organized in Windfall in 1857, with meetings taking place in a school house.
There is no definitive history explaining how Windfall was named, but a niece of James B. Fouch told a local newspaper in 1949, “The story has been told to me that Windfall was named by my uncle after a terrific windstorm had swept through the village.”
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, 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.