Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Woodbury

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Woodbury

Woodbury’s post office opened in 1828, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Woodbury Town Hall. Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1800.

1828first post office
1on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Woodbury began

When was Woodbury founded?

1828

The Woodbury post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, South Woodbury (1864), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 23 in 18002020 census: 928198 years
Founding year: the first Woodbury post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Woodbury’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 Woodbury are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1840 and 1960, then more than doubled.Deep rootsA post office since 1828: 198 years of Woodbury.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Woodbury’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Woodbury’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
People over time

Woodbury, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200180018501900195020001,092 in 1840Low: 317

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1840 and 1960, then more than doubled.

23 censuses, 1800–2020.

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

Timeline

Woodbury, 1828 to 1974

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828Post officeThe Woodbury post office opens
  3. 1829Born hereCharles H. Heath is born here
  4. 1840CensusPopulation peaks at 1,092
  5. 1864Post officeThe South Woodbury post office opens
  6. 1890Born hereBob Smith is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1974Post officeThe South Woodbury post office closes
The story

How Woodbury came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Woodbury.

Read it all →

Woodbury was chartered and settled in the late 18th century. After the U.S. Civil War, granite quarrying became a viable business, and the Hardwick and Woodbury Railroad was built to transport stone from the quarries to finishing shops in nearby Hardwick, which had a rail connection to the outside world. Woodbury's granite finishing business faded away, although granite is still quarried in the town and "Woodbury Gray" granite is still sold.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Woodbury, decade by decade

Today6 recent
WoodburyVT VillageStore2017WoodburyVT VillageStoreWoodburyVT UMC2017WoodburyVT UMCWoodburyVT TownHall2017WoodburyVT TownHallWoodburyVT GradedSchool2017WoodburyVT GradedSchoolVermont - panoramio - Johannes Geiger2006Vermont - panoramio - Johannes GeigerWoodbury vt highlight2004Woodbury vt highlight
On the map

Woodbury on the map, 1940 to 1986

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

Woodbury on the 1940 USGS mapWoodbury on the 1953 USGS mapWoodbury on the 1986 USGS map1940Plainfield 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 Woodbury.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Woodbury

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
Woodbury Town Hall
Woodbury Town Hall
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Woodbury Town HallGreek Revival

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Woodbury

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

See all →
B
Bob SmithProfessional baseball player, born 1890 · b. 1890
Charles H. HeathAmerican politician · b. 1829
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Woodbury’s post office has been open since 1828. Another post office, South Woodbury, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Woodbury
1828–today
South Woodbury
1864–1974
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
South Woodbury
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Woodbury
South WoodburySouth WoodburyWoodbury Center

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Elmore2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHardwick6 historic placesA+Calais5 historic placesA+Cabot1 historic placeA−

Questions about Woodbury’s history

What year was Woodbury founded?

The Woodbury post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Woodbury?

One place: the Woodbury Town Hall (listed 1995).

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 (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.