Woodstock

History

Bibb County, founded as Cahawba County in 1818, played an important role in the early industrial history of Alabama. Ironworks and foundries produced goods from the brown iron ore found on Roupes Creek. Woodstock, known as North Bibb until 2000, is a small town on the northern boundary of Bibb County. This community was once the center of a thriving railroad business. Woodstock was first settled in the 1820s, with a formal land grant to William Houston on February 27, 1826. The settlement was established along the old Tuscaloosa to Huntsville stagecoach line. Woodstock got its name when Dr. J.U. Ray named it after the home of his ancestors, Woodstock, England. Ray's ancestors arrived in America from England at Jamestown, Virginia. In 1870, Ray built the first depot for the newly constructed Alabama-Chattanooga Railroad. After the Alabama Great Southern Railroad came the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Each operated a depot in the area. In 1872, a line was installed down to West Blocton to ship the large abundance of coal found in the area. Woodstock became a break and storage yard for coal, red and brown iron ore and cotton. After the Civil War, rich iron ore deposits were mined. In 1872, Giles Edwards relocated to Woodstock from Tannehill and built a blast furnace to manufacture pig iron. Edwards was later joined in the business by his son-in-law, James W. McQueen, who went on to become the president of Sloss-Sheffield Iron Company in Birmingham. In addition to the iron ore mining, coal mining, and farming, a jug factory was built to take advantage of the large deposits of fire clay that was in the area. The clay was used to make bricks, jugs, pots, and churns. As many as eight trains per day stopped in Woodstock, carrying away its riches, six of them carrying…

Geography

Woodstock is located in northern Bibb County. A portion of the town extends to the northwest into Tuscaloosa County. U.S. Route 11 passes northwest of the town center, leading northeast to downtown Birmingham and west to Tuscaloosa. Interstate 59 passes northwest of Woodstock, with the closest access via Exit 97 north of town. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.11%, is water.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• West Blocton High School
  High · West Blocton · 412 students · 16.5:1 ratio
• West Blocton Middle School
  Middle · West Blocton · 376 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• Woodstock Elementary School
  Elementary · Woodstock · 300 students · 17.6:1 ratio
• West Blocton Elementary School
  Elementary · West Blocton · 278 students · 17.4:1 ratio