Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Woodman

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 · Woodman

Woodman’s post office opened in 1863, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1926 on and the census since 1880.

1863first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
Photo: TheCatalyst31 · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Woodman began

When was Woodman founded?

1863

The Woodman post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 111 in 18802020 census: 118163 years
Founding year: the first Woodman post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Woodman’s past

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

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Woodman’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The story

How Woodman came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Woodman.

Read it all →

A post office called Woodman was established in 1863, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1995. The village was named for Captain E. E. Woodman, a railroad official.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Woodman, 1881–1900

Passages that mention Woodman, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The history of the town of Woodman is the history of the village of Woodman, and may be found therein. In 1864, Ralph Smith and Cyrus Woodman laid out a village on Sections 13 and 14, to which was given the name of Woodman. The first settlers in the village were Charles Smith and Mr. J. Lindig, who…
History of Grant County, Wisconsin1881 · page 872Read the page →
Read the text

The history of the town of Woodman is the history of the village of Woodman, and may be found therein. In 1864, Ralph Smith and Cyrus Woodman laid out a village on Sections 13 and 14, to which was given the name of Woodman. The first settlers in the village were Charles Smith and Mr. J. Lindig, who located in the spring of 1864. The first house was erected this year by Ralph Smith, as a residence for his son Charles, the carpenter work being done by T. S.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of the town of Woodman is the history of the village of Woodman, and may be found therein. In 1864, Ralph Smith and Cyrus Woodman laid out a village on Sections 13 and 14, to which was given the name of Woodman. The first settlers in the village were Charles Smith and Mr. J. Lindig, who…
[History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin1881 · page 872Read the page →
Read the text

The history of the town of Woodman is the history of the village of Woodman, and may be found therein. In 1864, Ralph Smith and Cyrus Woodman laid out a village on Sections 13 and 14, to which was given the name of Woodman. The first settlers in the village were Charles Smith and Mr. J. Lindig, who located in the spring of 1864. The first house was erected this year by Ralph Smith, as a residence for his son Charles, the carpenter work being done by T. S.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1864 the village of Woodman was laid off by Cyrus Woodman and Ralph Smith, on Sections 13 and 14. In the spring of that year Charles and Julius Lindig settled in the new village, the residence of the former being the first house erected there. In the same year a post-office was established at th…
History of Grant County Wisconsin1900 · page 767Read the page →
Read the text

In 1864 the village of Woodman was laid off by Cyrus Woodman and Ralph Smith, on Sections 13 and 14. In the spring of that year Charles and Julius Lindig settled in the new village, the residence of the former being the first house erected there. In the same year a post-office was established at that place with S. S. Hills as post¬ master, the office being kept in the depot. Thomas Clapp succeeded Digitized by v^ooQie

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
As has been seen, the town of Patch Grove was created by the Board of Supervisors at the special session held in 1848, and included, besides the present township of Patch Grove, the present township of Mount Hope, Woodman, Millville, Wyaiusing, and the greater part of the present township of Bloomi…
History of Grant County, Wisconsin1881 · page 857Read the page →
Read the text

As has been seen, the town of Patch Grove was created by the Board of Supervisors at the special session held in 1848, and included, besides the present township of Patch Grove, the present township of Mount Hope, Woodman, Millville, Wyaiusing, and the greater part of the present township of Bloomington. The first township election was held at the old schoolhouse, noticed as still standing in the north part of the village, April 3, 1849. At the town meeting held the same day Hiram Bronson was elected Moderator or Chairman, and Thomas Nagle, Clerk.

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.

Timeline

Woodman, 1863 to 1995

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1863Post officeThe Woodman post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1926On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1995Post officeThe Woodman post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Woodman on the map, 1926 to 1983

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

Woodman on the 1926 USGS mapWoodman on the 1967 USGS mapWoodman on the 1983 USGS map1926Wauzeka 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 Woodman.

People over time

Woodman, census by census

010018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 149

Between 96 and 149 people in every census since 1880.

12 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Woodman

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

See all →
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Woodman had its own post office from 1863 to 1995.

Woodman
1863–1995
18601940today

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

Questions about Woodman’s history

What year was Woodman founded?

The Woodman post office opened in 1863, 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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), 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.