Little is known of the area before it was settled by disbanded veterans of De Lancey's Brigade following the American Revolutionary War.
The veterans moved there in late 1783.
The 26,000 acres grant was to 110 men.
Not all took up the offer, and of those who did, not all stayed.
By 1790 only 23 families were present, and by 1804 only 10 of the original men had possession of the land.
According to the diaries of Frederick Dibblee mills were present from 1805.
Export of timber via the Saint John river began about this time.

When Carleton County was created in 1831, Woodstock was made county seat, and a jail, court house and registry office were installed.
From 1837 William Teel Baird operated a pharmacy.
The first steamboat from Fredericton reached Woodstock in 1837 and a regular service was established in 1845.
By 1847 the population was at 2,000 and the town had four churches, a bank, and a grammar school.

On The Twelfth (Orangemen's Day) of July 1847 a riot took place at the corner of Victoria and Boyne streets near the site of the Orange Hall, built in 1848 and now a vacant lot.
It was a conflict between Protestant Irish immigrants of the Orange Order and Catholic Irish immigrants.
Around 250 Orangemen clashed with an equal number of Irish Catholics, leading to 10 deaths and many more injuries.
It was a result of years of tensions.
Subsequently, only Catholics were brought to trial.

According to the 1851 census there were 488 inhabited houses, and nine places of worship.
Immigration was important, with the majority coming from Ireland.

The town was the first in New Brunswick to be incorporated, in 1856.
The first mayor was Lewis P. Fisher.
He made provisions in his will for the building of several educational institutions, among them the first Agricultural and Vocational School in Canada, and the L. P. Fisher Public Library.

In 1861, the newly built railway between St. Andrews and Woodstock was seized by several hundred navvies, angry at not being paid.
 A peaceful settlement was later made personally by Arthur Hamilton-Gordon.

The first telephone was installed in 1885 by H.V. Dalling, a homemade telephone whose wires ran between his home and shop.
The Bell Telephone Company later opened a small telephone exchange in his store.

In 1887, Tappan Adney, visiting Woodstock, learnt birchbark canoe construction from a Maliseet, preserving and document the building process.

The headquarters for the New Brunswick Railway were here from 1870 until it ceased functioning.

The first dam at the mouth of the Meduxnekeag River was built in 1886.
In the 1880s Woodstock had two small electric companies related to the Small & Fisher and Connell Brothers iron foundries.
These were superseded by the Woodstock Electric Railway Light and Power Company which in 1906 built a dam and a powerhouse on the Meduxnekeag for distribution of power to the town.
The first hydro-electric station in New Brunswick, the Hayden dam and its power station was destroyed by a freshet in 1923, which also washed out the bridge that crossed the Meduxnekeag.
Little is known of the area before it was settled by disbanded veterans of De Lancey's Brigade following the American Revolutionary War. The veterans moved there in late 1783. The 26,000 acres grant was to 110 men. Not all took up the offer, and of those who did, not all stayed. By 1790 only 23 families were present, and by 1804 only 10 of the original men had possession of the land. According to the diaries of Frederick Dibblee mills were present from 1805. Export of timber via the Saint John river began about this time.
When Carleton County was created in 1831, Woodstock was made county seat, and a jail, court house and registry office were installed. From 1837 William Teel Baird operated a pharmacy. The first steamboat from Fredericton reached Woodstock in 1837 and a regular service was established in 1845. By 1847 the population was at 2,000 and the town had four churches, a bank, and a grammar school.
On The Twelfth (Orangemen's Day) of July 1847 a riot took place at the corner of Victoria and Boyne streets near the site of the Orange Hall, built in 1848 and now a vacant lot. It was a conflict between Protestant Irish immigrants of the Orange Order and Catholic Irish immigrants. Around 250 Orangemen clashed with an equal number of Irish Catholics, leading to 10 deaths and many more injuries. It was a result of years of tensions. Subsequently, only Catholics were brought to trial.
According to the 1851 census there were 488 inhabited houses, and nine places of worship. Immigration was important, with the majority coming from Ireland.
The town was the first in New Brunswick to be incorporated, in 1856. The first mayor was Lewis P. Fisher. He made provisions in his will for the building of several educational institutions, among them the first Agricultural and Vocational School in Canada, and the L. P. Fisher Public Library.
In 1861, the newly built railway between St. Andrews and Woodstock was seized by several hundred navvies, angry at not being paid.  A peaceful settlement was later made personally by Arthur Hamilton-Gordon.
The first telephone was installed in 1885 by H.V. Dalling, a homemade telephone whose wires ran between his home and shop. The Bell Telephone Company later opened a small telephone exchange in his store.
In 1887, Tappan Adney, visiting Woodstock, learnt birchbark canoe construction from a Maliseet, preserving and document the building process.
The headquarters for the New Brunswick Railway were here from 1870 until it ceased functioning.
The first dam at the mouth of the Meduxnekeag River was built in 1886. In the 1880s Woodstock had two small electric companies related to the Small & Fisher and Connell Brothers iron foundries. These were superseded by the Woodstock Electric Railway Light and Power Company which in 1906 built a dam and a powerhouse on the Meduxnekeag for distribution of power to the town. The first hydro-electric station in New Brunswick, the Hayden dam and its power station was destroyed by a freshet in 1923, which also washed out the bridge that crossed the Meduxnekeag.
Woodstock, New Brunswick