Founding year: the first West View post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1905.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives West View’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West View is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #719 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of West View’s overall grade.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so West View’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1905.
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 →
What stands out about West View’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
West View was first incorporated on March 20, 1905. In the early 1900s, the Allegheny-Bellevue Land Company began acquiring land in Ross Township in order to build houses. Land developer Frederick Christian Martsolf was particularly enamored by the area, so working with the Allegheny-Bellevue Land Company, he was able to incorporate 640 acres of land right in the middle of Ross Township into West View Borough. West View held its first election on May 16, 1905, with Martsolf being elected the first president of the Borough Council on May 24, 1905.
Passages that mention West View, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 175Read the page →
Read the text
founded in 1853, by William Shinn, a Pittsburgh lawyer. Matthew Cridge subsequently became proprietor. The locality is noted for its picturesque scenery. The only religious feature is a Methodist church. The postoflice is known as Ross. West View is a small village on the Perrysville road, near the city line. It has existed as a postoffice since July 9, 1866. Hilands Presbyterian Church was organized in 1803, by Rev. N. R. Snowden. Rev. Robert Patterson was also an early supply; his successor, Rev.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 175Read the page →
Read the text
founded in 1853, by William Shinn, a Pittsburgh lawyer. Matthew Cridge subsequently became proprietor. The locality is noted for its picturesque scenery. The only religious feature is a Methodist church. The postoflice is known as Ross. West View is a small village on the Perrysville road, near the city line. It has existed as a postoffice since July 9, 1866. Hilands Presbyterian Church was organized in 1803, by Rev. N. R. Snowden. Rev. Robert Patterson was also an early supply; his successor. Rev.
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.
Timeline
West View, 1866 to 1913
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
West View had its own post office from 1866 to 1913.
West View
1866–1913
18601940today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about West View’s history
What year was West View founded?
The West View post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1905.
How does West View rank for history?
West View is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #719 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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 West View?
37% of West View’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1951.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
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