Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The Woodston post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Rooks Centre (1872), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Woodston’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Woodston.
Woodston was established along the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1885 as a railroad town between Bull City (Alton) and Stockton. Woodston was named for Stockton businessman Charles C. Woods, who was instrumental in getting railroad service to Stockton.
The Rooks Centre Post Office, established in 1872, was moved to Woodston in 1886.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nobody well known was born in Woodston itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Woodston’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Rooks Centre, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Woodston post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.
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