1706History
== History ==
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.
1768History
In 1768, the Maryland General Assembly changed the name of the town to Westminster to avoid confusion with Winchester, Virginia.
1863Military
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 f...
1865History
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.
1868History
Since 1868, Westminster has held an annual Memorial Day parade, which is one of the longest continuously running Memorial Day parades in the country.
1952Disaster
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 ...
1996Disaster
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.
2006Civil Rights
On March 10, 2006, members of the Westboro Baptist Church picketed the funeral of Matthew A.
2010History
== Demographics ==
=== 2010 census ===
As of the census of 2010, there were 18,590 people, 7,161 households, and 4,117 families living in the city.
2011Disaster
On April 16, 2011, a tornado touched down around 8:00 pm EST.
2015History
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.
2020Disaster
Shortly after sunrise on February 7, 2020, an EF1 tornado crossed directly over downtown, heading parallel to Maryland 27 northward on the west side.