Community Info
Northwood was first surveyed in 1857 and a dam was put across the Shell Rock
River to provide water power for a sawmill. The U.S. Centennial was celebrated in
Northwood in 1876 and in the early 1900s Teddy Roosevelt stopped in town on his
whistle-stop campaign for President.
Fun facts about Northwood include a rain big enough to float a canoe down Main
St. in June of 1908 and Hans Langseth-documented in the Guinness Book of World
Records for having the longest beard in the world was a Northwood resident.
Sidney Swensrud founded the Swensrud Foundation that benefits the community, he
was the president and chairman of the board of Gulf Oil Corporation and was a
resident of Northwood.