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Founding
Founding of Westminster
city in Carroll County, northern Maryland, United States
- 1764
- North America
Founding
city in Carroll County, northern Maryland, United States
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Westminster is a city in and the county seat of Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The city's population was 19,960 at the 2020 census. Westminster is an outlying community in the Baltimore metropolitan area, which is part of the greater Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area.
William Winchester (1706-1790) purchased approximately 167 acres of land in the area in 1754, which became known as White's Level and later the town of Winchester. In 1768, the Maryland General Assembly changed the name of the town to Westminster to avoid confusion with Winchester, Virginia.
On June 28, 1863, the Civil War skirmish of Corbit's Charge was fought in the streets of Westminster, when two companies of Delaware cavalry attacked a much larger Confederate force under General J. E. B. Stuart. This action delayed Stuart's forces from their joining the Battle of Gettysburg.
In April 1865, Joseph Shaw, editor for the Western Maryland Democrat, suffered an attack at his paper: his presses were wrecked and his business destroyed. He was subsequently beaten and stabbed to death by four men in Westminster, allegedly because of an anti-Lincoln editorial that he published the week before the assassination of the president. In a later trial at the Westminster Court House, the four men were acquitted; they had claimed "self-defense" in their case.
Since 1868, Westminster has held an annual Memorial Day parade, which is one of the longest continuously running Memorial Day parades in the country.
Just north of Westminster is the farm at which Whittaker Chambers hid the so-called "Pumpkin Papers" in a notorious mid-20th century case.
A historic marker states that Westminster was the first place in the nation to offer Rural Free Delivery postal service.
On March 10, 2006, members of the Westboro Baptist Church picketed the funeral of Matthew A. Snyder at St. John Catholic Church in Westminster. He had been killed in the Iraq War. Snyder's father sued the Baptist church for violating his privacy; the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the church on free speech grounds in Snyder v. Phelps.
On June 26, 2015, the city of Westminster lit the Westminster Fiber Network, the first community-wide gigabit fiber to the premise network in the Mid-Atlantic region. The city partnered with Ting Inc., a subsidiary of Tucows, to light the network and provide gigabit services.
Westminster is located at 39°34′36″N 77°0′0″W / 39.57667°N 77.00000°W (39.576551, −77.000120). Westminster is approximately 36.5 miles (58.7 km) driving distance northwest of Baltimore and 37.5 miles (60.4 km) driving distance southwest of York, Pennsylvania.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.64 square miles (17.20 km2), of which 6.63 square miles (17.17 km2) is land and 0.01 square miles (0.03 km2) is water. Westminster has access to two water reservoirs at present, Liberty and Piney Run; the county has also proposed a Union Mills Reservoir and Gillis Falls Reservoir.
Westminster lies in the humid subtropical climate zone bordering on a humid continental climate, with hot and humid summers and cool winters with highly variable seasonal snowfall. Due to its elevation and distance from the Chesapeake Bay and Baltimore's urban heat island, temperatures in Westminster are often lower than in Baltimore, especially at night.
Westminster's historical tornado activity is slightly above the Maryland state average and 38% greater than the overall U.S. average. On April 15, 1952, an F3 tornado (which has wind speeds of 158–206 mph) hit 15.5 miles from the city center, injuring four people and causing between $500,000 and $5,000,000 in damages. On July 19, 1996, an F3 tornado struck 5.5 miles away from the Westminster city center, injuring three people and causing $5 million in damages. On April 16, 2011, a tornado touched down around 8:00 pm EST. Shortly after sunrise on February 7, 2020, an EF1 tornado crossed directly over downtown, heading parallel to Maryland 27 northward on the west side. This damaged siding and shingles on multiple structures and brought down several trees. Schools across much of the county took shelter due to the tornado warning.
As of the 2020 census, Westminster had a population of 20,126. The median age was 35.4 years. 21.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 88.5 males age 18 and over.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 7,456 households in Westminster, of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 40.6% were married-couple households, 19.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 32.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 7,889 housing units, of which 5.5% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.9%.
As of the census of 2010, there were 18,590 people, 7,161 households, and 4,117 families living in the city. The population density was 2,803.9 inhabitants per square mile (1,082.6/km2). There were 7,684 housing units at an average density of 1,159.0 per square mile (447.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 86.0% White, 7.0% African American, 0.3% Native American, 2.2% Asian, 1.9% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.0% of the population. 40% of Latinos in Westminster were of Mexican descent, 16% were of Puerto Rican descent, and 3% were of Cuban descent. 60% of Westminster's Latino population identified as White, 4% identified as Afro-Latino, 6% identified as being of more than one race, and 29% identified as some other race. Non-Hispanics in Westminster were predominantly White; 88% of non-Hispanics were White and 7% were African-American.
There were 7,161 households, of which 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.5% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.5% were non-families. 35.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.12.
The median age in the city was 33.3 years. 22.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 15% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.6% were from 25 to 44; 21.9% were from 45 to 64; and 13.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.5% male and 52.5% female.
According to the City of Westminster, the top employers in the city are:
The five largest employers just outside Westminster in Carroll County are:
The Hashawha Tower is a windmill in Westminster. It stands at the Hashawha Environmental Center.
Many annual events are hosted by the city government, Carroll County Arts Council, Carroll County Public Schools, Carroll County Farm Museum & Agriculture Center, and other community organizations:
The Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS) system enrolls over 28,000 students, which makes it the ninth largest school system in the state of Maryland. In Carroll County there are seven comprehensive high schools as well as two career and technology centers and an alternative school, The Gateway School. Students in grades 9 through 12 attend one of seven Carroll County high schools. Carroll County has 23 elementary schools and 9 middle schools. In the city of Westminster, there are two high schools, two middle schools and five elementary schools.
Westminster is home to McDaniel College, the Civil Air Patrol's National Honor Guard Academy, and Dream Flight School, an institution providing flight lessons at the local airport.
The main method of travel to and from Westminster is by road and four primary highways serve the city. The most prominent of these is Maryland Route 140, which follows an east-southeast to west-northwest alignment across the area. To the southeast, MD 140 connects to Baltimore, while northwestward, it passes through Taneytown on its way to Emmitsburg. Maryland Route 97 is the next most important highway serving the city, providing the most direct route southward towards Washington, D.C. Two other primary highways, Maryland Route 27 and Maryland Route 31 provide connections to other towns in the area.
Due to long-standing opposition to mass transit from local residents and politicians, there is no inter-county bus or rail transit linking Westminster to Baltimore County. A resolution passed by the Carroll County Board of Commissioners prohibits the Carroll Transit System from offering bus services into or out of the county.
Main Street in Westminster was used as a location for the filming of For Richer or Poorer.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Westminster, Maryland”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.