Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #200 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Woods Creek was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1921 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 14% 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 Creek is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #200 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Woods Creek’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (27% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Woods Creek’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Woods Creek. 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 Creek.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Woods Creek yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Woods Creek is a census-designated place (CDP) in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 6,017 at the 2020 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 5,589 to 6,017 (+8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Woods Creek, cut from the printed page as they were published.
called, there centered groups of well-informed men and women whose horizons were not bounded by the encircling forests. As early as 1886 it was reported that Rev. H. B. Potter was promoting a saw and grist mill to utilize the fine water power of Woods Creek and that much stock had been subscribed. There was an active literary society, much earlier than in 1886, and an example of its neighborly feeling is given by the resolutions which it passed at the time of the death of Isaac Peer, who was drowned at Fiddler’s Bluff, December 19, 1885, his body being found by Leila Hilton while on her way to school. Snohomish had its
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Woods Creek is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #200 of 285 in Washington. 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.
3% of Woods Creek’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
