[1] The northern half of the locality of Westwood is in Rockhampton region while the southern part is in the Shire of Banana.

[5] The Blackwater railway line enters the locality from the north (Wycarbah), passes through the town, and exits to the south-west (Gogango).

Although the area was named Prestone on the original survey plan, Queensland Governor George Bowen decided to name the town Westwood after Westwood House, the home of Sir John Pakington, the Secretary of State for the Colonies and War in 1852.

[2][8] On 29 September 1867, the first stage of the Great Northern Railway (now known as the Central Western Line) reached the area from Rockhampton, and Westwood became the railhead.

On Saturday 6 September 1919, John Huxham, the Queensland Home Secretary opened the Westwood Sanatorium,[13][14] a 64-bed sanitorium was opened in Westwood to treat miner's phthisis,[15] a lung disease suffered by miners from working in dusty conditions.

[17][18] More effective medical treatments for tuberculous resulted in the closure of the sanitorium in 1959, but the building continued to be used as a nursing home until the 1980s.

[21] Fitzroy Shire councillor Vince Reynolds was the master of ceremonies while Uniting Church pastor Dorothy Demack served as the worship leader.