Incorporated in 1891 and named for David T. Ansted, a celebrated geologist of London, England, former owner of the land upon which the town is located. Julie Neale Jackson Woodson, the Mother of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, is buried here in Westlake Cemetery with several Civil War soldiers.
Population, 1,404; elections held every four years on the first Tuesday in June; officials take office July first.