Woodbridge’s post office opened in 1877, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #151 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Freestone Point Confederate Battery. Most of Woodbridge was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1970.
How Woodbridge began, and where its name came from
When was Woodbridge founded?
1877
The Woodbridge post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Freestone (1874) and Featherstone (1916), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 25,412 in 19702020 census: 44,668149 years
How did Woodbridge get its name?
Woodbridge takes its name from a wooden toll bridge built in the 18th century to span the Occoquan River.
How historic is Woodbridge?
C−
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Woodbridge is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #151 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Woodbridge’s overall grade.
Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Virginia town has 3.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Woodbridge’s 0.2 sits below most of its state (35% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Woodbridge’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Freestone
1874–1882
Wood Bridge
1877–today
Featherstone
1916–1921
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bayside ParkBel Air Mobile Home ParkFeatherstoneFeatherstone Mobile Home ParkFeatherstone ShoresHolly Acres Mobile Home ParkMarumsco AcresMarumsco HillsMarumsco VillageMarumsco WoodsRiver Bend Estates
Gone or out of use
Occoquan Stationlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Woodbridge’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Woodbridge’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Woodbridge was initially a village composed largely of plantations and later farms and industrial complexes. It dates to at least 1731, when Prince William County was formed out of the Stafford County, Virginia. The first Prince William County Courthouse was erected in Woodbridge, owing to its location halfway between Dumfries and Alexandria, the two largest cities then in Prince William County. With the incorporation of Fairfax County, Woodbridge ceased to be the center of the county, and municipal function eventually shifted westward into Brentsville and eventually to Manassas, where it is today.
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.
The Woodbridge post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Woodbridge rank for history?
Woodbridge is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #151 of 253 in Virginia. 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 Woodbridge?
One place: the Freestone Point Confederate Battery (listed 1989).
How old are the homes in Woodbridge?
1% of Woodbridge’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (6), 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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