Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Westfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1898Elk Point sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Westfield.
People over time
Westfield, census by census
Peaked at 218 in 1930; 123 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Westfield’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Westfield, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Westfield yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Westfield is a city in Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. The population was 123 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the westernmost point in Iowa, this being due to a bend in the Big Sioux River. The nearby Broken Kettle wildlife refuge is one of the few places in Iowa where prairie rattlesnakes are commonly found.
Its first post office opened in 1877. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 132 to 123 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Westfield in 1917
Passages that mention Westfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
yard and the other interests at Lake View and his brothers operating the lumber yards at Wall Lake and at Carnarvon. For five years Mr. Mohr continued thus engaged, in the meanwhile, in 1900, becoming interested with Neil McFarland, in the establishment of a private bank at Westfield and was elected president of the same, the Bank of Westfield, the first bank established in that village. Shortly afterward he disposed of his interests at Lake View and on January I, 1901, moved to Westfield, where he ever since has made his home. Upon locating at Westfield Mr. Mohr bought the hard-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
sets of substantial buildings, one new and modern in every respect and the other greatly improved since he came into possession. Mr. Mills continued farming in Sioux township until 1915, in which year he retired from the farm and with his family moved to Westfield, where he has a very pleasant home. Upon locating at Westfield Mr. Mills opened the Bank of Westfield, a private concern, of which he is president and sole owner. The bank was started with a capital stock of ten thousand dollars and Frank Anderson is the cashier and Thomas Haynes, assistant cashier. A further five thousand
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Westfield, 1877 to 1930
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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