Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Bridge in Westover Borough. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1917 on, and the census since 1900.
Westover dates its founding to 1840 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.
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 Westover’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Westover yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Westover is a borough in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 361 at the 2020 census.
Westover was established in 1840. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 390 to 361 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereGeorge Gibson is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveBridge in Westover BoroughPassages that mention Westover, cut from the printed page as they were published.
names in the township for many years, and closely allied to the history of the township in whatever branch we may follow it. C. T. Moore also has a place of business, and makes boots and shoes. As a striking feature the town of Westover seems to include only such men as are generally permanently located and substantial, well-to-do business men. The citizens take a deep interest in the progress and improvement of the village, and look forward to the building of a railroad in 1888, when a large town is assured to them.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
names in the township for many years, and closely allied to the history of the township in whatever branch we may follow it. C. T. Moore also has a place of business, and makes boots and shoes. As a striking feature the town of Westover seems to include only such men as are generally permanently located and substantial, well-to-do business men. The citizens take a deep interest in the progress and improvement of the village, and look forward to the building of a railroad in 1888, when a large town is assured to them.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Near the eastern center of the township and about equidistant from Newburg, or Hurd, on the south, and Westover on the north, is a settlement never aspiring to the proportions of a town, but with a post-office, two stores, a fine church, and a school-house, and with good people, surrounded by the best farms in the county, and from one hundred to one hundred and fifty souls, they were ever content, and always prosperous. This place was made a post-office, and from a name, which is always known in Chest township as one of the most reliable and influential names in that section, it received the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of farm and timber land, with frame houses dotted along every road or turnpike, and continuing on from McGarvey's to the south at Westover the same condition exists; here in 1887 was still remaining much hemlock, from which the bark was taken for use at the tanneries; quantities of land were in process of cultivation, in many instances the first clearing being just made, and from Newburg to McGarvey we go to the south of the township and find that here situated in the southern part of the township, and on the banks of Chest Creek, was the home of Mr. William Westover, and throughout that entire section of
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Westover. 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 Westover.
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 sheet.
1917Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Westover’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 361 and 712 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Westover’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1840, according to Wikidata. Westover’s post office opened in 1862, and the census of 1900 counted 654 people here.
One place: the Bridge in Westover Borough (listed 1988).
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 (7), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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