West River is located in Queens County in the central portion of Prince Edward Island. The river flows southeast into Charlottetown Harbour. Its precise location is N 46°13', W 63°10'.

The Municipality of West River was originally incorporated in 1974. It was incorporated as a rural municipality on January 1, 2018. On September 1, 2020, the Rural Municipality of West River amalgamated with the rural municipalities of Afton, Bonshaw, Meadowbank, and New Haven-Riverdale. Prior to the amalgamation, localities within West River included Canoe Cove, Long Creek, New Argyle, and St. Catherines.

L.W. “Ken” Brammer (1920-2007) was born in Worksop, near Sheffield, England. He trained as a house painter and decorator. During WWII, Brammer served in the Royal Air Force, training at RCAF Station Summerside. At the end of the war, Ken returned to P.E.I. where he ran his own painting company for a time, then took a maintenance job at the Summerside air base. Later, he secured a series of provincial government jobs. They included Deputy Minister of Labour, the C.E.O. of the Labour Relations Board, and Chairman of the Arbitration Board. Following his retirement in 1984, Brammer took up recreational painting. Mainly self-taught, Ken worked in oils often painting summertime island landscapes, and, occasionally, prominent P.E.I. buildings, such as Fanningbank. He painted only during the winter months, preferring to spend his summers golfing and fishing. Brammer held his first one-man art exhibition in Charlottetown in 1994. Although considered a primitive or outsider artist, Ken’s work was appreciated by a wide range of collectors, including professional artists. His works can be found - not only in Prince Edward Island collections, but overseas as well. Many of Brammer’s original works were reproduced during his lifetime as P.E.I. Tourism posters, and also on souvenir postcards. Ken died in Uxbridge, Greater London, U.K. at the age of 86.