Westfield dates to 1834, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #351 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Most of Westfield was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2010. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 42 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1837.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Westfield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Westfield is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #351 of 593 in Indiana. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Westfield’s overall grade.
Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Westfield’s 7.9 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 43 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1834.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Westfield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1880, then grew more than tenfold.
17 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Westfield’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Westfield’s post office has been open since 1837. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Westfield
1837–today
Eagletown
1849–1925
Jolietville
1875–1923
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
EagletownJolietvillePleasant View
Gone or out of use
Greenwood Friends Meeting HousechurchHelicopter Airways of IndianaairportOakridge Friends Meeting HousechurchSchool Number 10schoolSchool Number 11schoolSchool Number 13schoolSchool Number 14schoolSchool Number 15schoolSchool Number 2schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 7school
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Westfield
Anti - Slavery FriendsChester FriendsEagletownLittle Eagle CreekMemorial ParkSummit Lawn
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Westfield was founded on May 6, 1834, by North Carolina Quakers Asa Bales, Ambrose Osborne, and Simon Moon. It is believed that the town was planned as a stop on the Underground Railroad with many families of the Religious Society of Friends and the Wesleyan Methodist Church supporting the cause. When the laws against aiding escaped slaves were made harsher, part of the Westfield Quaker Friends Meeting House split off into the Anti-Slavery Friends meeting.
Passages that mention Westfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Westfield, Massachusetts, August 31, September 1, 2, 3, 1919, and appendix with reminiscences of the last half-century1919Read the page →
Read the text
England settlement for a century and a half. [It is recorded that about the time of the Revolution, Episcopal Church services were held in Southwick which was then included in the township of Westfield. But the Tory sentiments of the officiating clergymen led to the determination that “Episcopacy shall never be established in Westfield”]; and it is some evidence of the persistence of the original Puritan type in this community that there was little de-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Westfield, Massachusetts, August 31, September 1, 2, 3, 1919, and appendix with reminiscences of the last half-century1919Read the page →
Read the text
was allowed twenty pounds for his prayers, labors and charges.” Moses Fiske was then minister, for three years, but the first settled pastor, Edward Taylor, was waiting at Cambridge to be found and brought to Westfield in 1671 by Thomas Dewey, by a four day’s horseback ride guided by the marked trees. It was eight years later when the church was organized with seven foundation men whose family names continue with us.
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, 1834 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1834, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Westfield’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1850 counted 1,738 people here.
How does Westfield rank for history?
Westfield is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #351 of 593 in Indiana. 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.
What is on the National Register in Westfield?
Three places: the Union High Academy Historic District (listed 1995), the Westfield Historic District (2019) and the Stultz-Stanley House (2022).
How old are the homes in Westfield?
0.8% of Westfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 2010.
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 Wikimedia Commons (9), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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), 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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