Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #43 of 61 in West Virginia. What drives it
Its Register listing is the St. Mary's Orthodox Church. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1920.
Westover dates its founding to 1911 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1920.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Westover is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #43 of 61 in West Virginia. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
West Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical West Virginia town has 29.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Westover’s 2.5 sits near the middle of its state (39% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Westover.
Westover was named from its location over the Monongahela River from Morgantown. Westover was incorporated on October 12, 1911. Westover expanded from its original area to include Riverside on November 27, 1945, Morgan Heights, Fairmor and Maple Grove on November 22, 1947; and the area in which Westover Park was built on March 10, 1955.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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 Survey
In the archive1938 radio listener in Westover, West Virginia Library of Congress fsa2000030730One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
19381938 radio listener in Westover, West Virginia Librar…
1938Miner takes washtub bath as most the families do. Wes…
1938Miner takes shower, which he built in the cellar of h…
1938Untitled photo, possibly related to: Miner takes show…
1938A more well-to-do miner starts his breakfast when he …
1938A more well-to-do miner listening to the radio when h…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 721 and 5,086 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Westover’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Westover itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1911, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1920 counted 721 people here.
Westover is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #43 of 61 in West Virginia. 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.
One place: the St. Mary's Orthodox Church (listed 1988).
18% of Westover’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
