Settlement of the area dates back to 1817 when Scottish emigrant William Thomson began the first farm. He started building his family home, Maple Lawn, in 1831. Today, it is the oldest surviving house in the area.

In the following few years, soldier-settlers constructed a road connecting a landing near the Parliament Hill with the military settlement of Richmond. The road, soon called Richmond Road, was the first in the country and one of the earliest in Upper Canada. Such a convenient thoroughfare made this area a popular choice for prospective landowners.

Two of these early settlers were Thomas and Robert Birch, who purchased land east of the street that became Churchill Avenue. This section was called Birchtown, and the land to the west, Baytown.

It was not until 1852, however, that the area really began to attract residents in greater numbers. In that year, James Skead built what was then one of the largest steam sawmills in Canada. As a tribute to him, the older names were dropped in the favour of Skead's Mills. Over time, the area changed from being a pioneer settlement to a respectable suburban village, thanks to the economic stimulus of the lumber industry. Tragically, Skead's Mill was destroyed by fire under apparently suspicious circumstances one Halloween.

By the 1890s, the name of Skead's Mills for this flourishing community was not considered good enough by many of its newer inhabitants, who began calling it Ottawa's Westmount. The dispute over the name came to a head at the end of the decade, when residents voted for a new name. Westboro was chosen from among such names as Springbrae, Birchton, and Earlswood.

Four years later, with a population around 200, Westboro was incorporated as police village in the Township of Nepean.

It was amalgamated into the city of Ottawa in 1950.

Westboro Village is now a thriving community that offers a contemporary urban experience with the best outdoor, fashion, furniture, and lifestyle shopping in Ottawa.