Woodbury’s post office opened in 1869, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #177 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Charles Spangenberg Farmstead. Most of Woodbury was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1860.
The Woodbury post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1967. Two smaller post offices, Combs (1886) and Oakbury (1900), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 350 in 18602020 census: 75,102157 years
How historic is Woodbury?
C
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Woodbury post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1967.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Woodbury’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Woodbury is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #177 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Woodbury’s overall grade.
Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Woodbury’s 0.4 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1967.
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 Woodbury’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
At almost 36 square miles, Woodbury is a direct descendant of one of the congressional townships into which Minnesota Territory when the Native Americans of the United States ceded the territory and opened it to "settlement". Woodbury was originally named Red Rock, but was renamed after Levi Woodbury, the first justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to attend law school, after it was realized that another Red Rock Township existed in Minnesota. When first settled in 1844, the land was mostly wood, but it was converted to farmland. The township government was organized in 1858. One of the city's few surviving 19th-century farms, the Charles Spangenberg Farmstead, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Passages that mention Woodbury, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Washington County and the St. Croix Valley Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota1881 · page 391Read the page →
Read the text
In 1870 the old house was moved to its present site in Woodbury, and repaired. The district comprises sections 4, 5, and 6, in Woodbury, and sections 31, 32, and 33 in Oakdale; present num¬ ber of scholars, forty-five.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Washington County and the St. Croix Valley Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota1881 · page 398Read the page →
Read the text
York, in 1837. Lived with his parents until 1851, when he went to Illinois and remained five years. Moved to St. Paul in 1857, went to Power’s lake in Woodbury, rented a farm, and engaged in the sugar trade for seven years. To Redwood Falls in 1876; went to Afton in 1878, and in 1879 to Dakota; took a claim in Valley City, and returned to Woodbury in 1881.
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
Woodbury, 1869 to 1949
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Woodbury post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1967.
How does Woodbury rank for history?
Woodbury is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #177 of 273 in Minnesota. 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.
What is on the National Register in Woodbury?
One place: the Charles Spangenberg Farmstead (listed 1978).
How old are the homes in Woodbury?
1% of Woodbury’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1997.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
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