Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1886 on and the census since 1870.
Westfield dates its founding to 1809 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 77% 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 is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Westfield’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.
Founding year: Wikidata (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’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Westfield. 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.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Westfield yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Westfield is a borough in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,113 at the time of the 2020 census.
Westfield was established in 1809. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,064 to 1,112 (+5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Westfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
one time it gave promise of being a place of some importance as a trading point. It contained two stores, carried on by W. 0. Bristol and J. H. Eushmore, but after tbe completion of the Fall Brook railroad to Westfield and Potter Brook, and of tbe Addison and Pennsylvania railroad to Sabinsville, trade was diverted to these places and the stores at Mixtown, discontinued business. A postoffice, established over fifty years ago, was discontinued in October, 1894, for lack of sufficient patronage.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Cowanesque Valley Agricultural Society was organized August 14, 1886, and incorporated August 31, 1887, with a capital of $5,000, for the purpose of holding agricultural and horticultural fairs in Westfield township, and for the improvement of agriculture and study of the kindred arts and sciences. There were twenty-four charter members, embracing many of the prominent citizens of Westfield borough and township. The first officers were L. K. King, president; E. M. Tucker and A.
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.
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 SurveyFire 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.
1886Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Between 370 and 1,386 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Westfield’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Westfield itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1809, according to Wikidata. Westfield’s post office opened in 1826, and the census of 1870 counted 370 people here.
Westfield is more historic than 77% 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.
62% of Westfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 Wikimedia Commons (8), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
2018
2018
2018
2018
2018
2009
2008
2008