Most of Woodbury was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1901 on, and old-book passages.
The location of what is now Woodbury was originally inhabited by Matinecock Native Americans. In the 17th century, European colonists – primarily the Dutch and English – began to settle the area.
The Long Island Rail Road reached the community in 1868, when what is now the Port Jefferson Branch was extended from adjacent Syosset east to Northport in Suffolk County. In 1875, the Woodbury station opened along the Port Jefferson Branch, within the hamlet; it closed at some point between 1901 and 1902, when it was replaced by the current Cold Spring Harbor station just east of Woodbury and the border between Nassau and Suffolk counties.
Passages that mention Woodbury, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut, from the first Indian deed in 1659 ... including the present towns of Washington, Southbury, Bethlem, Roxbury, and a part of Oxford and Middlebury1854 · page 188Read the page →
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James Hannah, To Doctr Benjn Hawely of Woodbury in Litchfield County these are to notifie you to appear before the Comtt of Observation for the Town of Woodbury at the Dwelling house of Gideon Walker Esqr in sd Woodbury on the third monday of Instant augt at Ten of the Clock in the fore noon (if you see cause) then and there to answer unto the foregoing Information and Shew Reasons if any you Can why you should not he proceeded against and dealt with according to the advic of the Continantal Congress Dated at Woodbury the 14th Day
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History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut, from the first Indian deed in 1659 ... including the present towns of Washington, Southbury, Bethlem, Roxbury, and a part of Oxford and Middlebury1854 · page 237Read the page →
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parish of South Britain, Southbury, and part of Oxford parish into a sepirate town, or the parish of Bethlehem, or the parish of Roxbury, that they would order and decree that each inhabitant, that has land lying in the bounds of "Woodbury, as the bounds now are, shall put all his lands into the list in that town where the owner shall reside after such Incorporation." This petition was granted at the May session of the General Assembly, 1787 ; and the town incorporated by the name of Southbury. It is believed, though the proof is not now at hand, that the
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Woodbury, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1830s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
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.
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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
1959
1959
1959