On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Westwood is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Westwood’s overall grade.
Kansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Westwood’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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.
The land where Westwood is located was originally occupied by the Kansa and Pawnee Indians. However, beginning in the 1830s, Captain Joseph Parks, then Head Chief of the Shawnee, worked with the U.S. Government to remove the Shawnee tribes from Ohio to the newly opened reservations in northeastern Kansas. In exchange for his services, the government awarded Parks 1,290 acres of land straddling what is now Johnson and Wyandotte counties as part of an 1854 treaty with the Shawnee. In 1859, Parks died without leaving a will stating what should happen to the land. His heirs spent the next 60 years disputing how the land should be divided. The land that would eventually become Westwood was ultimately awarded to Parks' granddaughter and her husband, Catherine and John Swatzell. In 1898, the Swatzells built a stone home. That home is still located at 4958 Rainbow and is considered the beginni…
Westwood is more historic than 56% 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?
31% of Westwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1950.
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 (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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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