The story
Read it all →How Westtown Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Westtown Township.
County Bridge No. 148 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Westtown Township
1 of Westtown Township’s places is on the National Register
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns · #868 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listing is the County Bridge No. 148. Most of Westtown Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1930.
1on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Quick answers
About Westtown Township’s history
How historic is Westtown Township?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Westtown Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Westtown Township is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #868 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Westtown Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19406.0% of homes (±3.2) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 0.9 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 39%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 16%
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 Westtown Township’s 0.9 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Westtown Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Westtown Township, and 22 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Westtown Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19016 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1996. Watch Westtown Township change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Another post office, Oakbourne, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cider KnollCoventry VillageGreen Lane VillageHilloch ManorHummingbird FarmLand Grant FarmsOakbournePennwood SouthPleasant GrovePlumlyPlumly AcresPlumly FarmsRollinwoodSerpentine AcresWest WynnWestmountWestover FarmsWesttown Country EstatesWesttown HillsideWesttown ParkWindmere PlaceWoodcock Farm
1cemetery inside Westtown Township
Hickman Family
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Westtown Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Westtown 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
Westtown Township on the map, 1901 to 1996
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Westtown Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1901West Chester 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 Westtown Township.
Timeline
Westtown Township, 1841 to 1928
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
1 historic place in Westtown Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
County Bridge No. 148
Structures
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Westtown Township, census by census
Grew from 785 people in 1930 to 11,154 in 2020, more than tenfold.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Westtown Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Westtown Township
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Westtown Township’s history
How does Westtown Township rank for history?
Westtown Township is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #868 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 Westtown Township?
One place: the County Bridge No. 148 (listed 1988).
How old are the homes in Westtown Township?
6% of Westtown Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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) 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.