Political pressure applied by William H. Murray during Oklahoma's Constitutional Convention resulted in the reduction of the size of Woodward County to its present boundaries.

In the 19th century, the county was part of a well-used military transportation corridor that was important to frontier defense.

[4] From 1876 through the 1880s massive herds of cattle passed through the southwestern corner of the county along the Great Western Trail from Texas to Kansas.

The Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway, controlled by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway, constructed a north–south line from Elk City through Sharon, Woodward, and the town of Fort Supply to Forgan, in Beaver County, in 1911–12.

[5] The Cimarron River forms part of the northern boundary and drains the northwestern section of the county.

The North Canadian River flows through the county from the northwest to the southeast.

Fort Supply Lake, on Wolf Creek, lies in Woodward County.

[4] The county is part of the Osage Plains and lies within the Western Red Prairies physiographic region and Gypsum Hills subregion.

[14] Agriculture and cattle production have been very important to the county income since before statehood.

In 1975, a plant was built near Woodward to extract iodine from oil field brine.