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History · Smallwood

Smallwood’s post office opened in 1933, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1922 on and the census since 2000.

1933first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Smallwood began

When was Smallwood founded?

1933

The Smallwood post office opened in 1933, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 566 in 20002020 census: 83993 years
Founding year: the first Smallwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Smallwood’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Smallwood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Smallwood’s homes were built before 1946.On the map since 19224 editions of the USGS map, 1922 to 1982. Watch Smallwood change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Smallwood’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Smallwood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Smallwood.

Read it all →

Smallwood is known for its early 20th-century-style log cabins and camps constructed by immigrants in the 1930s. A unique feature of the community is that the original home construction materials were locally sourced: Smallwood cabins were constructed of wood harvested and milled on site, and the distinctive stone fireplaces found in most cabins were built of limestone quarried in Smallwood from the 1920s through the 1950s. Most of these historic cabin structures survive as both summer and year-round residences.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the map

Smallwood on the map, 1922 to 1982

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

Smallwood on the 1922 USGS mapSmallwood on the 1942 USGS mapSmallwood on the 1967 USGS mapSmallwood on the 1982 USGS map1922White Lake 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 Smallwood.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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People over time

Smallwood, census by census

020040060080020002020Peak: 839

Between 566 and 839 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Smallwood

Nobody well known was born in Smallwood itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Frederick CookAmerican explorer · b. 1865
Gavin DeGrawAmerican singer · b. 1977
Queen HarrisonAmerican hurdler and sprinter · b. 1988
Randall BatinkoffAmerican actor · b. 1968
Stanley FinchFirst director of the FBI · b. 1872
Z
Zoe LeonardAmerican photographer · b. 1961
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

White LakeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMongaup ValleyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Smallwood’s history

What year was Smallwood founded?

The Smallwood post office opened in 1933, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.