Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1880.
The West Winfield post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Winfield’s history is told.
Peaked at 1,018 in 1970; 733 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Winfield’s Wikipedia page.
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.
1900Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of West Winfield.
An early school in the town, the West Winfield Academy (Mt. Markham), was established in 1850.
An extensive tannery was last run by the Hiteman Leather Co. and more recently was a superfund cleanup site.
The Bonfoy–Barstow House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention West Winfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
April 1, 1839, Col. Joseph Hardin removed with his family to the farm on the west side of the village of West Winfield, and remained there until his death, which occurred in 1870, having received injuries by the overturning of a wagon. He was an active business man; a trustee of West Winfield Academy; a director of the bank, and for many years colonel of a militia regiment.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The West Winfield Baptist church was first organized in 1796 as the Second Baptist Church of Litchfield. In 1803 it received the name of the Guild Society, in honor of Deacon Oliver Guild, who contributed liberally to its support. In 1828 it was reorganized under the name of the West Winfield Guild Society, which name it bore until 1880, when it was changed to the First Baptist Church of West Winfield. The first church building was erected in 1803, about a mile north of the present village of West Winfield. In 1826 the society purchased their
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The village of West Winfield, whose population is nearly four hundred, is located very near the west bounds of the county. It contains an academy incorporated by the regents of the university. I refer the reader to another chapter for a more particular description of this institution.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereElsie Spicer Eells is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Winfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of West Winfield.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The West Winfield post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
