Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns · #79 of 119 in Utah. What drives it
Most of Woods Cross was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Its Register listing is the James and Hannah Atkinson House. Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1940.
Woods Cross dates its founding to 1865 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1940.
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Woods Cross is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #79 of 119 in Utah. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Utah towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Utah town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Woods Cross’ 0.9 sits near the middle of its state (44% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Woods Cross had its own post office from 1871 to 1975.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Woods Cross’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Woods Cross.
Woods Cross is named after Daniel Wood, an early settler in the Utah Territory. Wood (October 16, 1800 - April 15, 1892) was a Mormon pioneer and a settler of the western United States. He was the son of Henry Wood and Elizabeth Demelt. He was born in Dutchess County, New York and died in Woods Cross.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereSterling M. McMurrin is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Woods Cross. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Woods Cross.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 211 people in 1940 to 11,410 in 2020, more than tenfold.
9 censuses, 1940–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Woods Cross’ Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1865, according to Wikidata. Woods Cross’ post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1940 counted 211 people here.
Woods Cross is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #79 of 119 in Utah. 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.
One place: the James and Hannah Atkinson House (listed 1999).
2% of Woods Cross’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 2001.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (7), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.
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