Town of Westville History


Brief History

 Westville is older than Reynoldston and almost on the Canadian  border. Unlike Reynoldston, Westville is and was primarily a farmcommunity, with flat tillable fields and rich soil.  Westville is in the St. Lawrence Valley. The Salmon River runs through Westville fields, where it widens as it approaches the St.Lawrence River in Quebec. Westville was in  no way a   traditional village, with a church with  two  town center: Westville Center and Westville Corners Westville still exists, today. We are fortunate to have a group of Westville interviews that detail life in a place very
different than Reynoldston, but perhaps more typical of northern Franklin County than the temporary logging town developed by the Reynoldses. Our informant Orville Langlois took us back further into the 19th century than any of the Reynoldston interviewee could do; George Russell also talked extensively about early days in Westville, whileOla Stockwell, a well-known historian in the Westville community, talked about  the difficulties and rewards of being a country school teacher.  George Chapman  was a farmer and Katherine Cushman Chapman, a school teacher. Both came from farm families that had farmed and settled in the community in the early 19th  Century. Daily life for many of the interviewees centered on the Presbyterian  Church, the Grange  and the general store, which was initially built and operated by W. S. Ordway. 
 

Mr.Langlois’s grandparents operated farms and subsequently the  general store in Westville from 1952 until 1963.  Mr. Langlois lived in Westville as a child, in one of the apartments aboe the store and spent time
with his grandparents at the Store.

 


 

 

 

 


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *