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History · Westfield Township

Westfield Township dates to 1839, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1942 on and the census since 1880.

1839founded
0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Westfield Township began

When was Westfield Township founded?

1839

Westfield Township dates its founding to 1839 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 647 in 18802020 census: 658187 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1840.The full story ↓

What stands out about Westfield Township’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 Westfield Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 933 in 1920; 536 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsEstablished in 1839: 187 years of Westfield Township.Old housesHalf of Westfield Township’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Westfield Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Westfield Township’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
People over time

Westfield Township, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 933

Peaked at 933 in 1920; 536 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Timeline

Westfield Township, 1839 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839
    FoundingWestfield Township is established
  3. 1861Post officeThe Richwood post office opens
  4. 1863Post officeThe Richwood post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 933
  7. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Westfield Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Westfield Township.

Read it all →

The village of Westfield was laid out in 1839, and a post office opened there on June 18, 1840. The community did not incorporate until August 31, 1875.

Westfield College operated here from 1865 until 1914. The school was founded by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ in 1861 as a seminary, then was incorporated as a coeducational college in 1865. The peak enrollment was 160, in 1909. However, enrollment declined sharply thereafter, and financial problems forced the school to close in 1914. The building was used as the Westfield Township high school from 1914 until being destroyed by fire in 1917.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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

Westfield Township on the map, 1942 to 1998

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

Westfield Township on the 1942 USGS mapWestfield Township on the 1984 USGS mapWestfield Township on the 1998 USGS map1942Casey 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 Westfield Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Westfield Township

Nobody well known was born in Westfield Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Gregg TolandAmerican cinematographer · b. 1904
Charles ClaryActor · b. 1873
Charlotte MartinAmerican musician · b. 1976
R
Rex MorganBasketball player · b. 1948
A
Alice BaberAmerican painter and activist · b. 1928
Ronald W. DavisAmerican biochemist · b. 1941
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Richwood, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Lee SchoolschoolRichwood Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Westfield Township
Conrad BaptistGood Hope

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.

Parker TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAshmore Township1 historic placeB+Kansas TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDolson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHutton Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Westfield Township’s history

What year was Westfield Township founded?

In 1839, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Westfield Township’s post office opened in 1840, and the census of 1880 counted 647 people here.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, 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.