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AHistory
History · Woodruff

Woodruff dates to 1787, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #12 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it

Its Register listings are the First Presbyterian Church of Woodruff and the Woodruff High School. Below: maps from 1898 on and the census since 1880.

1787founded
2on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Woodruff began

When was Woodruff founded?

1787

Woodruff dates its founding to 1787 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 254 in 18802020 census: 4,212239 years

How historic is Woodruff?

A

More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1824.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Woodruff’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Woodruff is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #12 of 169 in South Carolina. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Woodruff’s overall grade.
Founding era1787, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194032.7% of homes (±13.4) · typical SC town 3.5% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register2 listings, 4.4 per 10,000 residents · typical SC town 3.2 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 86%
NewerOlder
South Carolina towns of 2,500+ (169)Ahead of 93%

South Carolina towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical South Carolina town has 3.2 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Woodruff’s 4.4 sits near the middle of its state (54% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1787.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±13.4 points).

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Woodruff’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 Woodruff are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1898 to 1911, drew every building in Woodruff.Deep rootsEstablished in 1787: 239 years of Woodruff.Old housesHalf of Woodruff’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Woodruff’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Woodruff, building by building, 1898–1911

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Woodruff fire insurance map, 1898, sheet 11898Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Woodruff, 1787 to 1957

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1787
    FoundingWoodruff is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1824Post officeThe Woodruff post office opens
  5. 1849Born hereJacob Javan Durham is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1933Born hereSammy Taylor is born here
  8. 1940Born hereMike Page is born here
  9. 1941Born hereKen Harrelson is born here
  10. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Woodruff came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Woodruff.

Read it all →

In 1787, Joseph Woodruff, his brothers, and other family were listed as members and deacons in the earliest minutes of the Church of Christ at Jamey’s Creek, which would later become Woodruff Baptist Church. As early as 1789, Woodruff purchased two hundred acres of land on Jamey’s Creek, including the present site of Woodruff. By 1825, Woodruff post office (which took its name from the postmaster Thomas Woodruff, Joseph’s son) and Woodruff’s Tavern dominated the crossroads.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Woodruff, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Woodruff First Citizens Bank Post-Helene2024Woodruff First Citizens Bank Post-Helene2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBook
On the map

Woodruff on the map, 1957 to 1991

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

Woodruff on the 1957 USGS mapWoodruff on the 1983 USGS mapWoodruff on the 1991 USGS map1957Fountain Inn 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 Woodruff.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Woodruff

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2005
First Presbyterian Church of Woodruff
First Presbyterian Church of WoodruffWoodruff High School
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque Revival1
Second Gothic Revival1
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Collegiate Gothic1
First Presbyterian Church of WoodruffRomanesque Revival
Woodruff High SchoolLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Woodruff, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 5,171

Between 254 and 5,171 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Woodruff

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Ken HarrelsonBaseball player and broadcaster from the United… · b. 1941
M
Mike PageAttended Stockton · b. 1940
S
Sammy TaylorAmerican baseball player · b. 1933
Jacob Javan DurhamAfrican American minister · b. 1849
Thomas Kilgore Jr.American Christian evangelist · b. 1913
Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

Woodruff’s post office has been open since 1824.

5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Woodruff
Crestview Memorial GardensFirst Presbyterian ChurchForest Hills Memorial ParkOld Bethel BaptistWoodruff Memorial Gardens

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Woodruff’s history

What year was Woodruff founded?

In 1787, according to Wikidata. Woodruff’s post office opened in 1824, and the census of 1880 counted 254 people here.

How does Woodruff rank for history?

Woodruff is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #12 of 169 in South Carolina. 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 Woodruff?

Two places: the First Presbyterian Church of Woodruff (listed 2005) and the Woodruff High School (2006).

How old are the homes in Woodruff?

33% of Woodruff’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.4 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1962.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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).

From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.