History · Westwood

Westwood’s post office opened in 1913, and 57% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1920.

1913first post office

0on the National Register

57%homes built before 1940

2famous people

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Quick answers

How Westwood began

When was Westwood founded?

1913

The Westwood post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 3,300 in 19202020 census: 1,541113 years

How historic is Westwood?

C⁺

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Westwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Westwood’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Westwood is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Westwood’s overall grade.

Founding era1913, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsD Homes built before 194057.1% of homes (±10.7) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%A⁺National RegisterNo listings counted · typical CA town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%

NewerOlder

Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Westwood’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (31% of California towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Westwood’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Westwood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Westwood’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 5,454 in 1940; 1,541 people lived here in 2020.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Westwood’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Westwood’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

The story

How Westwood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Westwood.

Read it all →

Westwood was built by T. B. Walker to be the operations center for the Red River Lumber Company in 1913, and serviced by the Fernley and Lassen Railway built in 1912–14. The first post office opened in 1913. The Red River Lumber Company is credited as being "the world's largest electrical sawmill of the times." Red River Lumber Company also operated one of the first electric railways in the state built in 1927. The mill was equipped with the most modern equipment for its time; and the surrounding territory was crisscrossed by forest railways bringing logs to the mill. The railway shop at Westwood was home to 2-8-0 No. 102 and 2-8-2 No. 104 when forest railway operations ceased in the early 1950s. The four woods engines scrapped in 1953 were 2-6-0 number 1, 2-6-2 number 2, 2-8-2 number 3, and 3-truck Shay locomotive number 4.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Westwood, census by census

Peaked at 5,454 in 1940; 1,541 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Westwood’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Westwood, 1913 to 1956

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

20th century
1913Post officeThe Westwood post office opens
1929Born hereBurt Delavan is born here
1940CensusPopulation peaks at 5,454
1952Born hereWayne Young is born here
1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.

Add from your album

On the map

Westwood on the map, 1956 to 1995

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Westwood. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1956Chester sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Westwood.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Westwood

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Wayne YoungAmerican gymnast born 1952 · b. 1952

Burt DelavanAmerican football tackle · b. 1929

Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Westwood’s post office has been open since 1913.

Hamlets and corners on the map

Pine Town

Gone or out of use

Westwood Airportairport

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Clear CreekIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Westwood’s history

What year was Westwood founded?

The Westwood post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Westwood rank for history?

Westwood is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Westwood?

57% of Westwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.7 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1938.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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