Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1913 on and old-book passages.
Westminster dates its founding to 1834 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1837.
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 Westminster’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Westminster. 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 Westminster.
From Wikipedia’s history of Westminster.
Westminster was platted in 1834. A post office called Westminster was established in 1837, and remained in operation until 1944.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Westminster, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Alexander Oreps and his wife Rebecca (Maus) Creps, came about 1832. In 1834 Alex. Creps founded the village of Westminster and there died August 25, 1878. Smith Cremean arrived in German Township in 1830, and settled on lands which he purchased on Section 19, in 1830. Jacob Cremean was also an early settler.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Alexander Creps and his wife Rebecca (Maus) Creps, came about 1832. In 1834 Alex. Creps founded the village of Westminster and there died August 25, 1878. Smith Cremean arrived in German Township in 1830, and settled on lands which he purchased on Section 19, in 1830. Jacob Cremean was also an early settler.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Considered chronologically, Auglaize should precede American although it is alphabetical classification in this study of Allen County townships. It became an organized township March 5, 1832, and the community centers are : Harrod, Westminster and West Newton, Westminster having been platted two years later. Alexander Creps who located the town owned much of the land lying north of the Auglaize River: it has been said that he could walk from his home in Westminster to Lafayette many years later without leaving his own land, and that
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
There is a public well in Westminster that has served the community for many years. Until recently the pump was a hollowed out log with the small end down for the stock, and it was always an unfailing source of excellent water. This "trunk of a tree" pump was the pride of Westminster at the time it was thinking about annexing the Allen County courthouse. The man who digs a well or plants a tree is a public benefactor; while wells are going out of fashion, there has as yet been no substitute for trees. It is a stock story about the settler who was
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.
Nobody well known was born in Westminster itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1834, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Westminster’s post office opened in 1837.
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 Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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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