The neighborhood, dating to the Victorian era, has largely escaped the redevelopment efforts that have obliterated many of Detroit's other historic areas.

It is named for William Woodbridge, governor of Michigan in 1840–1841, who owned a large farm on which much of the neighborhood was subsequently built.

The Eighth Precinct Police Station, built in 1901, was architecturally designed to blend in with the lavish upper-class homes in the neighborhood.

During World War II, owners rented rooms and divided homes into apartments to house defense industry workers.

Recent activity has shifted perception of Woodbridge from that of an up-and-coming neighborhood to a hotbed of urban revitalization, with the few properties that come up for sale typically subject to bidding wars.