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History · Westfield

Westfield dates to 1839, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1898 on and the census since 1880.

1839founded
0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Westfield began

When was Westfield founded?

1839

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

First census: 647 in 18802020 census: 536187 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1840.The full story ↓

What stands out about Westfield’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 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.Old housesHalf of Westfield’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Westfield’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Westfield, 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’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Westfield, 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 is established
  3. 1840Post officeThe Westfield post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 933
  6. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Westfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Westfield.

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.
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On the map

Westfield on the map, 1942 to 1998

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

Westfield on the 1942 USGS mapWestfield on the 1984 USGS mapWestfield 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.

Every building

Westfield, building by building, 1898–1910

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Westfield fire insurance map, 1898, sheet 11898Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Questions about Westfield’s history

What year was Westfield founded?

In 1839, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Westfield’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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.