Westover Borough is another one of Clearfield County’s communities that grew up along Chest Creek. Chest, Clearfield and Moshannon Creeks are the three main tributaries that empty into the Susquehanna River from a southerly direction.
Westover, located in the southwestern part of the county, had its beginnings when its namesakes, Jonathan and Joseph Westover, settled in the Chest Creek valley lands in 1837. The town grew and was incorporated as a borough in 1840.
Then, as now, Westover had a close travel and economic relationship with northern Cambria County, neighboring Burnside and Cherry Tree and northeastern Indiana County.
The dominant lumbering and rafting industry first breathed life into Westover and the surrounding Chest Township area. Chest Creek was the natural and vital link for transporting raw logs and cut boards.
The Chest Creek Valley became the natural link that invited railroad growth in Westover. The Pennsylvania Railroad line reached the town in 1886, followed shortly thereafter by the Bell’s Gap Railroad, which later was bought by Cornelius Vanderbilt’s corporate giant, the New York Central line.
The coming of passable roads and cars made Westover a travel link, along state Route 36, between Altoona and Punxsutawney. The common bonds of homes, schools and churches made Westover, set in a valley between steep hills, grew into a sizeable borough by 1920.
The Mosser Tannery, later owned by the Armour Packing Company, opened in 1890. The abundance of tree bark obtained from logging and the available of both shipped and local animal hides combined with the water of Chest Creek to create an ideal setting for turning hides into marketable leather. Market forces caused the tannery to close by 1983.
Both deep and surface coal mining rose to become bulwarks of Westover’s employment and economic life throughout much of the 20th century.
Grace United Methodist Church had its beginnings in Westover in 1874. Twenty years earlier, the Westover Baptist Church was established near one of the original bridges that spanned Chest Creek.
The early 20th century photo shows the church sanctuary before the addition of Sunday School rooms. It was a classic rural church design of the time with its tall steeple and open belfry.
Sadly, the church was destroyed by fire. By July of 1919, the present Baptist Church was operating and still thrives today.