Woodfords holds title as the oldest non-native settlement in the entire region.

Sam Brannan left supplies near a spring here in 1847 on his way to Salt Lake City, and Brannan Springs, as it was then called, was ideally positioned to take advantage of traffic on the booming road to California.

[6] Woodfords became a remount station of the Pony Express on April 4, 1860, when Warren Upson scaled the mountains in a blinding snowstorm, reached Woodfords from Lake Tahoe via Luther Pass, and made his way down the eastern slope of the Sierra on his way to Carson City.

Five weeks later the Pony Express was rerouted by way of Echo Summit and the Kingsbury Grade.

[8] Woodfords is home to about 150 full-time residents, while the Southern band of the Washo tribe has a small community in nearby Diamond Valley.