Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1915 on and old-book passages.
The Westfield Township post office opened in 1821, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Westfield (1821), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Westfield Township is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
Ohio towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Ohio town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Westfield Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
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 Westfield Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Westfield Township. 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 Westfield Township.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Westfield Township.
A post office called Westfield was established in 1821, and remained in operation until 1907. Westfield once had its own schoolhouse.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Westfield Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
man in the township, and was chiefly instrumental in securing the first post office in the whole township of Oxford, and it was this post office that gave Westfield Township its name. There is a well-authenticated tradition concerning the origin of the name of the post office.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
He built the first round-log, the first hewed-log and the first brick house in Westfield Township, and bore a most conspicuous part in the after-history of the township. To the memory of no one do the citizens of Westfield Township owe a greater tribute for daring enterprise, persevering industry, unflinching honor, and high moral worth. His fellow-citizens early showed their
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
He built the first round-log, the first hewed-log and the first brick house in Westfield Township, and bore a most conspicuous part in the after-history of the township. To the memory of no one do the citizens of Westfield Township owe a greater tribute for daring enterprise, persevering industry, unflinching honor, and high moral worth. His fellow-citizens early showed their
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of the early teachers of the township, says he received his pay in almost everything except money, including smoked meat, dried apples, and beans. The schools of Westfield Township are fully up to the average, and each district is supplied with a good, comfortable frame house, except the village of Westfield, which has a twostory brick house, built in 1877, in which two
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Westfield Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Westfield, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Westfield Township post office opened in 1821, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Westfield Township is more historic than 49% 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.
11% of Westfield Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.9 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1991.
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).
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
