Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to West Alexander

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
West Alexander Historic District 125 Main StPhoto: Generic1139 · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · West Alexander

West Alexander’s post office opened in 1807, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1896 on.

1807first post office
1on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Generic1139 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How West Alexander began

When was West Alexander founded?

1807

The West Alexander post office opened in 1807, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 565219 years
Founding year: the first West Alexander post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about West Alexander’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of West Alexander’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19024 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1997. Watch West Alexander change.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1896 to 1913, drew every building in West Alexander.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start West Alexander’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Alexander’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWest Alexander PA Presby PHS636: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

West Alexander, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of West Alexander yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

West Alexander is a census-designated place in Donegal Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, and formerly a borough in Washington County. Located less than a mile east of the border with West Virginia, the population was 604 at the 2010 census, just short of double the population of 320 recorded in the 2000 Census. The borough was dissolved into surrounding Donegal Township, effective January 1, 2009.

Its first post office opened in 1807. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 604 to 565 (-6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

On the map

West Alexander on the map, 1902 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Alexander. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

West Alexander on the 1902 USGS mapWest Alexander on the 1959 USGS mapWest Alexander on the 1981 USGS mapWest Alexander on the 1997 USGS map1902Wheeling sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of West Alexander.

By decade

West Alexander, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
West Alexander PA Presby PHS6361923West Alexander PA Presby PHS636
1930s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Every building

West Alexander, building by building, 1896–1913

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.

West Alexander fire insurance map, 1896, sheet 11896Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

West Alexander PA Presby PHS636
Retake this viewWest Alexander PA Presby PHS636, 1923

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on West Alexander’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 50 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
50
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Questions about West Alexander’s history

What year was West Alexander founded?

The West Alexander post office opened in 1807, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.