Westfield

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Promotion: Nearby Map of Harris County

Westfield is on Interstate 45 and the Missouri Pacific Railroad nineteen miles north of Houston. The site is part of the lumber and oil region of north central Harris County. In 1846 German immigrant Herman Tautenhahn built a general store near Cypress Station where a trail crossed Cypress Creek. The town was established in 1870 and named for Gadi F. West, who owned a small field at the site when the International–Great Northern Railroad came through from Houston to Spring. A post office was established in 1873, and Tautenhahn moved his store closer to the tracks. The community thrived as a railroad town, loading cotton, lumber, cattle, and hides on freight cars from local warehouses and cattle pens. By 1890 Westfield had a population of 200 (largely German and Anglo-American), three churches, a school, a steam sawmill, three combination gristmill–cotton gins, and several sorghum manufacturers. The community shipped a tonnage of cotton, livestock, and other products equal to that of Spring. Some of the residents were employed making farm implements, barrels, and furniture. Westfield had a brief boom in 1905 as an overflow point for employees in the Humble oilfield but declined as cotton moved west and lumber and cattle dwindled. In 1905 the local White school had 137 pupils and one teacher and the local Black school thirty-three pupils and one teacher. The population grew from fifty to 450 between 1925 and 1930 but declined to fifty during the Great Depression, when Westfield had two businesses. During World War II the community had 200 residents and ten businesses. After the war the population declined to 125, where it remained until the mid-1960s, when it increased to 275. In the 1950s Farm Road 1960 passed north of the town, and in 1962 Tautenhahn's store, renamed Big T Shopping Center, was moved to Interstate 45 and Farm Road 1960. The population remained 275 from 1966 to 1990, during which time Westfield had a maximum of thirty-two businesses. By 1990 only one business remained. The post office was discontinued in 1972, and no population figures were available for the community in 2000. In 2003 the 100-year-old St. Matthew's Lutheran Church still stood near the George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

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Diana J. Kleiner | © TSHA

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Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Belongs to

Westfield is part of or belongs to the following places:

Currently Exists

No

Place type

Westfield is classified as a Town

Location

Latitude: 29.82640000
Longitude: -95.71550000

Has Post Office

No

Is Incorporated

No