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Camp Wood, TX IMG 1325Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Camp Wood

Camp Wood’s post office opened in 1879, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1973 on, and the census since 1940.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Camp Wood’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Camp Wood began

When was Camp Wood founded?

1879

The Camp Wood post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 778 in 19402020 census: 517147 years
Founding year: the first Camp Wood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Camp Wood’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Camp Wood’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewNorth elevation. - John Nance Garner Ho…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Camp Wood, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Camp Wood yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Camp Wood is a city in Real County, Texas, United States, in the Texas Hill Country, which is part of the Edwards Plateau. The population was 517 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 706 to 517 (-27%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Camp Wood, 1879 to 1973

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Camp Wood post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1933In the archiveNorth elevation. - John Nance Garner House
  5. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Camp Wood, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
North elevation. - John Nance Garner House1933North elevation. - John Nance Garner House
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today7 recent
Campwood-tx2016-36(site-of-campwood)2016Campwood-tx2016-36(site-of-campwood)Mohair sign, Camp Wood, TX IMG 13262011Mohair sign, Camp Wood, TX IMG 1326Camp Wood, TX, Public Library IMG 13242011Camp Wood, TX, Public Library IMG 1324Camp Wood, TX IMG 13252011Camp Wood, TX IMG 1325Camp wood public library2008Camp wood public libraryCamp Wood stone facade store front2008Camp Wood stone facade store frontTXMap-doton-CampWood2004TXMap-doton-CampWood
On the map

Camp Wood on the map, 1973 to 1985

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

Camp Wood on the 1973 USGS mapCamp Wood on the 1985 USGS map1973Camp Wood sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Camp Wood.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

North elevation. - John Nance Garner House
Retake this viewNorth elevation. - John Nance Garner House, 1933

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Camp Wood’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Camp Wood, census by census

020040060080019401960198020002020Peak: 879

Between 517 and 879 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Camp Wood

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

See all →
Matthew McConaugheyAmerican actor · b. 1969
Dale EvansAmerican actress, singer and writer · b. 1912
Dolph BriscoeAmerican politician · b. 1923
John Howell CollierUnited States general · b. 1898
B
Bobby BonnerAmerican baseball player,Baptist Missionary · b. 1956
Gordon MaltzbergerAmerican baseball player · b. 1912

Questions about Camp Wood’s history

What year was Camp Wood founded?

The Camp Wood post office opened in 1879, 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 →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (8), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.