Westminster is a city in Oconee County, South Carolina, in the state's northwest corner near the Georgia line, within the Lake Hartwell country of the upper Savannah River watershed. Established in the 1890s, it began as a water stop along the Southern Railway, and it soon grew into a thriving railroad and textile town when Oconee Mills set up operations in the late nineteenth century. That industrial and rail heritage shaped the city's street grid and its built environment, and Westminster retains more than one hundred homes dating to the late 1800s and the turn of the century. Today Westminster is a small city of roughly 2,400 residents with a suburban-rural character and a largely owner-occupied housing stock. Its downtown and older residential streets reflect the late-nineteenth-century boom that built them, while newer homes and commercial development have spread along the city's main corridors. The city functions as a local service center for the surrounding western Oconee County countryside. Westminster's setting is a defining asset. The city lies within the Lake Hartwell shoreline region, part of the large U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir that stretches across the South Carolina–Georgia line and supports boating, fishing, camping, and lakeside recreation. The nearby Chattooga River and the Sumter National Forest add whitewater, hiking, and mountain recreation, and Clemson and Seneca lie within easy reach for employment, education, and services. Public education is provided by the School District of Oconee County, the countywide system serving Westminster and its surrounding communities. For residents, Westminster offers small-city living with a tangible historic character, convenient access to Lake Hartwell and the outdoors, and the practical advantages of proximity to Clemson and the larger towns of the South Carolina Upstate.