The story
Read it all →How Woodville came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Woodville.
Woodville was first settled in 1870 with ties to the railroad and logging industry.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
CHistory
History · Woodville
Woodville dates to 1870, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1920.
1870founded
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Woodville began
When was Woodville founded?
1870
Woodville dates its founding to 1870 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1920.
First census: 298 in 19202020 census: 1,386156 years
How historic is Woodville?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1875.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Woodville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Woodville is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Woodville’s overall grade.
Founding era1870, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194013.0% of homes (±3.5) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical WI town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 33%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Woodville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points). Two sources give 1870.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Woodville’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 Woodville’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Woodville’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Woodville, 1870 to 1949
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1870FoundingWoodville is established
- 1875Post officeThe Woodville post office opens
- 20th century
- 1949
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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 albumOn the map
Woodville on the map, 1949 to 1974
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Woodville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1949Baldwin sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Woodville.
People over time
Woodville, census by census
Grew from 298 people in 1920 to 1,386 in 2020, 4 times over.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Woodville’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Woodville
Nobody well known was born in Woodville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Woodville’s post office has been open since 1875.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Woodville Municipal Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Loyalty Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Woodville
Lone PineSunset Memorial
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.
Questions about Woodville’s history
What year was Woodville founded?
In 1870, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Woodville’s post office opened in 1875, and the census of 1920 counted 298 people here.
How does Woodville rank for history?
Woodville is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Woodville?
13% of Woodville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1979.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikipedia, 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.