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Westmoreland tennessee watertower 2009Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0
C+History
History · Westmoreland

Westmoreland’s post office opened in 1888, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #107 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Westmoreland Tunnel. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1960.

1888first post office
1on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Westmoreland began

When was Westmoreland founded?

1888

The Westmoreland post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Coatstown (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 865 in 19602020 census: 2,718138 years

How historic is Westmoreland?

C+

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Westmoreland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Westmoreland’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Westmoreland is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #107 of 177 in Tennessee. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Westmoreland’s overall grade.
Founding era1888, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194011.1% of homes (±5.2) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 3.5 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 42%
NewerOlder
Tennessee towns of 2,500+ (177)Ahead of 40%

Tennessee towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Tennessee town has 6.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Westmoreland’s 3.5 sits near the middle of its state (43% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±5.2 points). 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 Westmoreland’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Westmoreland are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Westmoreland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Westmoreland’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Westmoreland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Westmoreland.

Read it all →

Despite being a relatively small town, Westmoreland is notable for several things, among them having the shortest railway tunnel in the world, at 42 feet long.

Originally created in 1901 by a state charter, the town was officially incorporated to the State of Tennessee in February 1901. In the years that followed, it slowly grew to the albeit small population it had today.

In the early 2000s, the Westmoreland Elementary school shut down, and relocated to a school closer to the Middle and High schools. The building today stands as Westmoreland Dream Center, and is a hub for can food drives and some boy scout activities.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Westmoreland, 1875 to 1958

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Coatstown post office opens
  3. 1888Post officeThe Coatstown post office closes
  4. 1888Post officeThe Westmoreland post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Westmoreland, decade by decade

Today10 recent
American Idol Finalist and Covington’s Collision Center High-speed Business - RUS (20180927-RD-LSC-0570)2018American Idol Finalist and Covington’s Collision Cent…American Idol Finalist and Covington’s Collision Center High-speed Business - RUS (20180927-RD-LSC-0538)2018American Idol Finalist and Covington’s Collision Cent…American Idol Finalist and Covington’s Collision Center High-speed Business - RUS (20180927-RD-LSC-0525)2018American Idol Finalist and Covington’s Collision Cent…American Idol Finalist and Covington’s Collision Center High-speed Business - RUS (20180927-RD-LSC-0490)2018American Idol Finalist and Covington’s Collision Cent…American Idol Finalist and Covington’s Collision Center High-speed Business - RUS (20180926-RD-LSC-0173)2018American Idol Finalist and Covington’s Collision Cent…American Idol Finalist and Covington’s Collision Center High-speed Business - RUS (20180926-RD-LSC-0166)2018American Idol Finalist and Covington’s Collision Cent…Westmoreland tennessee watertower 20092009Westmoreland tennessee watertower 2009Westmoreland tennessee postoffice 20092009Westmoreland tennessee postoffice 2009Westmoreland tennessee business district2 20092009Westmoreland tennessee business district2 2009Westmoreland tennessee business district 20092009Westmoreland tennessee business district 2009
On the map

Westmoreland on the map, 1958 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Westmoreland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Westmoreland on the 1958 USGS mapWestmoreland on the 1985 USGS map1958Westmoreland sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Westmoreland.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Westmoreland

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
1978
Westmoreland Tunnel
Westmoreland Tunnel
Structures
All 1 listings
Westmoreland TunnelStructure · listed 1978

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Westmoreland, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00019601980200020202,718

Grew from 865 people in 1960 to 2,718 in 2020, 3 times over.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Westmoreland’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Westmoreland’s post office has been open since 1888. Another post office, Coatstown, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Coatstown
1875–1888
Westmoreland
1888–today
18701950today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Westmoreland
CarterNew Hope

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Westmoreland’s history

What year was Westmoreland founded?

The Westmoreland post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Westmoreland rank for history?

Westmoreland is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #107 of 177 in Tennessee. 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 Westmoreland?

One place: the Westmoreland Tunnel (listed 1978).

How old are the homes in Westmoreland?

11% of Westmoreland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1983.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 Wikimedia Commons (10), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.