Westwood Downtown Historic District Overview

Westwood Downtown Historic District is a compact, walkable center that blends early twentieth-century architecture, a traditional main-street layout, and a strong sense of place shaped by the railroad and small-town commerce.

Today, it remains a focal point for community life, civic identity, and local business activity while retaining much of the historic character that first defined it.

Origins and Early Growth

The roots of the Westwood Downtown Historic District lie in the arrival and expansion of railroad service, which transformed a largely rural landscape into a regional hub. The train station and surrounding streets quickly attracted stores, service businesses, and civic buildings, forming the core of what became a recognizable downtown.

Over time, the area’s role as a transportation node helped Westwood earn a reputation as the “Hub” of the Pascack Valley, drawing workers, shoppers, and visitors from surrounding communities. As population increased, commercial and residential construction pushed outward from the tracks in several directions, reinforcing the downtown’s position as the community’s primary business and social center.

Commercial buildings such as stores, lumber sheds, coal yards, and bakeries lined the main streets, while nearby residential properties were established on large lots that balanced proximity to downtown with a village-like setting. The resulting pattern created a cohesive town center with a clear distinction between the commercial core and surrounding neighborhoods.

Nyttend via Wikimedia Commons

Defining Features and Architecture

The Westwood Downtown Historic District is characterized by traditional main-street building forms and a consistent streetscape that reflects early to mid-twentieth-century architectural trends. Many commercial structures are one- to three-story masonry buildings that front directly on the sidewalk, creating a continuous street wall and a pedestrian-friendly environment.

Storefronts typically feature large display windows, recessed entries, and modest decorative detailing that speak to the period when small, locally owned shops dominated the retail landscape.

Key civic and transportation resources also contribute significantly to the district’s character. The historic Westwood Train Station, built as an early twentieth-century commuter rail facility, is recognized for its distinctive architectural design and materials, including carefully restored stonework and a slate roof. Its restoration in the early twenty-first century, using matching stone from the original quarry, underscores the community’s commitment to preserving both the building’s appearance and its role as a civic landmark.

Surrounding parks and plazas, including a village green and formal public spaces adjacent to the station, help define the district’s visual identity and reinforce its historic small-town feel.

Public Spaces and Civic Identity

Public space is central to the Westwood Downtown Historic District’s historic and present-day identity.

A central park or village green, developed in concert with the railroad station and nearby civic uses, provides an open, landscaped counterpoint to the denser commercial blocks. This green space, along with adjacent plazas and memorial parks, frames views of the station and surrounding buildings while offering a setting for gatherings, ceremonies, and everyday recreation.

These open spaces also mark the period in which the district’s character was largely fixed. By the early 1930s, with the completion of the present railroad station and the creation of the surrounding park plaza, much of the downtown’s defining form and appearance had been established.

Subsequent development and reinvestment tended to work within this framework, allowing the district to retain its cohesive village character even as businesses and uses evolved. The parks and plazas remain symbolic and functional anchors that help residents and visitors orient themselves within downtown and connect with the community’s history.

Image credit: Jared Kofsky/placenj.com, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Historic Designation and Preservation Efforts

Recognition of the Westwood Downtown Historic District’s significance is reflected in formal historic preservation planning and registry listings. Local planning documents, including the borough’s Historic Preservation Element, identify the area as a historic district with a rich cultural heritage tied to its role in transportation, commerce, and community development.

Within the broader inventory of historic resources, Westwood’s downtown is cited alongside other districts, streetscapes, and individually significant buildings as part of a comprehensive effort to document and safeguard the borough’s architectural legacy.

A major milestone in these efforts was the listing of the Westwood Train Station on both the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places, the first such national listing for the borough. The designation recognizes the station’s importance to the development of Westwood and its embodiment of characteristic features of early twentieth-century commuter rail architecture.

Listing also opens the door to grant funding and low-interest rehabilitation loans and requires review of significant governmental actions that might affect the property, adding a layer of protection for this cornerstone of the downtown district.

Downtown Today and Community Life

Today, the Westwood Downtown Historic District continues to function as an active, mixed-use center that balances preservation with contemporary needs. The combination of historic architecture, human-scale streets, and transit access helped the borough earn recognition as a great downtown, highlighting its successful blend of character, walkability, and economic vitality.

Restaurants, specialty shops, personal services, and community institutions occupy historic storefronts, drawing both residents and visitors for shopping, dining, and events. Ongoing preservation initiatives, supported by local historic preservation resources and commissions, help maintain the district’s distinctive appearance while encouraging adaptive reuse.

As a result, the area serves as both a living record of Westwood’s growth and a practical model for how historic downtowns can support modern lifestyles. The district’s continued evolution demonstrates how thoughtful stewardship of historic resources can strengthen local identity, support tourism and small business, and offer a memorable, walkable environment at the heart of the community.