The story
Read it all →How Westfall Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Westfall Township.
The Mill Rift Hall and Nearpass House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · Westfall Township
Westfall Township’s post office opened in 1852, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #885 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of Westfall Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listings are the Mill Rift Hall and the Nearpass House. Below: maps from 1913 on and the census since 1930.
1852first post office
2on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Westfall Township began
When was Westfall Township founded?
1852
The Westfall Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Westfall (1852), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 412 in 19302020 census: 2,537174 years
How historic is Westfall Township?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Westfall Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Westfall Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Westfall Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #885 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Westfall Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1852, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.3% of homes (±2.5) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register2 listings, 6.7 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 37%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 15%
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 Westfall Township’s 6.7 sits above most of its state (71% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±2.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Westfall Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Westfall Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Westfall Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Westfall Township on the map, 1913 to 1992
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Westfall Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1913Milford sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Westfall Township.
Timeline
Westfall Township, 1852 to 1913
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the National Register
2 historic places in Westfall Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1993
Mill Rift Hall
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Vernacular Meeting Hall1
Early 19th Century Vernacular1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Westfall Township, census by census
Grew from 412 people in 1930 to 2,537 in 2020, 6 times over.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Westfall Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Westfall Township
Nobody well known was born in Westfall Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Another post office, Westfall, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Westfall
Millrift
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
MillriftRosas
Gone or out of use
Mongaup Stationlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Westfall Township’s history
What year was Westfall Township founded?
The Westfall Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Westfall Township rank for history?
Westfall Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #885 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.
What is on the National Register in Westfall Township?
Two places: the Mill Rift Hall (listed 1993) and the Nearpass House (1993).
How old are the homes in Westfall Township?
3% of Westfall Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1987.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.