WESTMINSTER SCHOOL DISTRICT headquarters (OC Tribune photo).

The year was 1872. Ulysses Grant was president. The telephone had not been invented and Custer’s Last Stand was still four years in the future.

A small community on a coastal plain of Southern California established in 1870 in the Santa Ana Valley organized a public school system now known as Westminster School District.

The WSD will be observing its 150th anniversary on Thursday, Sept. 29. At this Thursday’s meeting of the district board of trustees an update will be presented on plans for the event.

The meeting will be held in the board meeting room at the district office, 14121 Cedarwood St., Westminster with a closed session at 6 p.m. and the public session at 7 p.m.

The WSD is a K-8 district serving most of Westminster and portions of adjoining communities.