Panel 1
1837 Weston is established by Joseph Moore taking a land claim and building the first cabin at present intersection of Market and Main
1837 Salem Christian Church is founded. Building constructed in 1841
1838 General Bela Hughes purchases half interest in Weston claim and plats city streets and sells lots
1838 Ben Holladay, Stage Coach King, moves to Weston and establishes a "dram shop"
1838 City Cemetery is established (first known burial is Jane Woods), later organized as Laurel Hill Cemetery
1838 Weston United Methodist Church is founded. Building constructed in 1867
1839 Post Office is established; Ben Holladay is the first post master
1840 Weston attracts first steamboats on upper Missouri
1840 First tobacco crop is harvested and floated down the Missouri River to Glasgow, MO
1842 Weston Presbyterian Church is organized; building constructed in 1844, its bell tower was a beacon for steamboats and the bell announcing their arrival
1842 Weston is incorporated as a town with five trustees
1842 The Weston Masonic Lodge No. 53 AF & AM is chartered; Ben Holladay brother Dandridge Holladay is Charter Master of Lodge
1842 Weston Brewery is established, changing to Royal Brewing in 1901
1843 Platte County first newspaper, The Eagle is published in Weston
Panel 2
1844 Holy Trinity Catholic Church is organized and lays corner stone; Father Ruthowski travels to Europe to solicit contributions for the church
1845 St. George Hotel opens
1845 The oldest structure is built; it has survived three fires and currently houses the "Town Mouse", 527 Main
1849 Weston becomes steamboat headquarters of the West. Weston serves 225 steamboats
1851 Court of Common Pleas is established in Weston
1852 The Christian Church is organized; building is constructed in 1854
1852 Main Street is macadamized from Market St. to Short St.
1853 Weston Cemetery Association is formed and lots platted; name is changed to Laurel Hill in 1902
1853 Weston Baptist Church is organized; begins construction in 1868
1853 Platte County Railroad is chartered running from St. Joseph to Kansas City via Weston; tracks are laid in 1861
1853 The German Benevolent Society is organized
1855 Weston has a peak population of 5000, second in size to St. Louis for a riverport town
1855 Fire destroys most of downtown business district
1855 Weston first City Hall is located at 526 Main and moves in to the old Weston Train Depot in 2002
1856 Ben and David Holladay establish the Holladay Distillery which changes to Shawhan in 1894, then to the Old Weston Distillery in the 1940, and finally to McCormick Distillery ca 1946
1858 The International Hotel is built by Ben Holladay, site of current Weston Historical Museum, 601 Main
1860 Hemp Industry reaches highest production establishing Weston as major world producer
1860 Pleasant Ridge College, Mary Bethune School and Swamp College are established
1862 Ben Holladay purchases Overland Stage Line
Panel 3
1864 International Hotel burns; site purchased by Baptist Church and building constructed in 1868, burning down in 1896
1865 Railey & Bros. Banking Co. is established in Weston
1861-1865 Civil War ends slavery and dooms hemp industry in Weston
1866 First of several "Town Bands" is organized
1866 First "gas works" is built by Henry Schlosser, a former Russian Czarist soldier
1868 The Schindler family starts a Main Street grocery store that lasts for over a century, moving to a new building on Hwy H & 45 in 1963, today Sharp Market
1869 The Weston School District purchases first public school, located at the current school site, 1025 Washington. Prior to this date education was provided by several private/parochial schools
1872 The Weston Commercial newspaper is established
1881 Flooding shifts Missouri River channel one mile west to the Kansas side
1883 Mt. Bethel Cemetery and Church are established
1884 J.B. Doran builds a tobacco warehouse and establishes the first tobacco market west of the Mississippi
1885 Hemp industry ends and last crop is shipped from Weston
1886 B.J. Bless, Sr. purchases The Weston Chronicle (formally [sic- formerly] The Weston Commercial); the family owns it until 1984
1887 William J. Rumpel purchases a hardware store at 509 Main; continuous operating for three generations, closing in 1988
1890 St. George Hotel burns and is rebuilt in 1892 through public subscription
1893 Bank of Weston is founded
ca. 1894 Large scale tobacco farming begins
1894 George H. Sebus and William Haas establish a general store that becomes the oldest continuously operating business under same name in Weston, Sebus Brothers
1896 Volunteer Fire Department Fighting Force is established with 22 members headed by GH Sebus
Panel 4
1904 Julius Rumpel begins operating Weston first telephone system
1905 First Light Plant is started by C.C. Davis
1910 Tobacco is sold by auction for first time in Missouri. Representatives of eastern manufacturers buy tobacco at auction from the warehouse of J.B. Doran
1912 Second tobacco auction house is built on Main St. known as Warehouse No. 2, and Weston tobacco market reaches five million pounds
1912 Graceland Cemetery is established
1914 R&B Elevator Co. is established, changing to Farmers Cooperative Elevator Assoc. and later Weston Elevator Co.
1915 Electric lights are installed in dining room of St. George Hotel
1918 Boy Scout Troop 316 is founded and rechartered in 1940 as Troop 249
1919 Electrical service is provided to businesses and homes
1925 First public library, the PTA Library is established and located in the school, later moving in to the Railey Bank Building
1929 Weston is the largest town in Platte County
1929 Weston has night and day electric and telegraph service and a railroad site with nine trains daily
1929 First X-ray machine arrives in Weston
1934 Sewer system is installed
1934 Christian Assembly Church is organized and occupies the former Presbyterian Church Building, 501 Washington
1936 Three Tobacco Warehouses at the base of Main burn with a loss valued at over a half million dollars
1936 Eureka Theater burns
1941 & ?42 Weston High School is the Tri-C Football Champions, who are never defeated, scored on or tied
1951 Major flood of Missouri River isolates Weston; supplies are brought in by helicopter
Panel 5
1955 First polio vaccinations are offered to Weston children (126 total)
1960 Weston Historical Museum is established and opens in the old Baptist Church, 601 Main
1960 Weston first Antebellum Homes Tour is sponsored by Weston Historical Museum
1964 New Deal Tobacco Warehouse is built and opened; in 1967 it burns and reopens the following year
1972 Weston is officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places; 1974 McCormick Distillery is listed
1974 Ambulance "Help Inc" begins service for Weston area residents
1978 Pirtle Vineyards produces its first wine and opens store in the old Evangelical Lutheran Church
1982 Weston Development Company is formed to spearhead the redevelopment of the downtown business district
1985 Snow Creek Ski area opens
1986 First "Lost Arts Festival" is held, later changes to "Weston Applefest"
1987 Father Christmas begins his holiday character in the streets of Weston
1993 The Great Flood causes Missouri levees to break; hundreds of residents are evacuated and drinking water is shipped in
1995 Harry Truman HBO movie is filmed in downtown Weston featuring Gary Sinese
1997 Weston Brewing Co. reopens on the site of original Royal Brewery, 540 Welt
2002 Weston Community Theater is established
2003 Weston Community Nazarene Church dedicates new building on H Hwy. Church established in 1949 in Iatan
ca. 2004 Last tobacco auction is held in Weston
2006 Weston is designated a Preserve America Community
2009 "Lewis and Clark, A Historic Weston Exhibit" is established and opened
2010 Weston Historical Museum celebrates 50 years
2011 Missouri River floods bottom land below Main
2012 Weston celebrates 175 years
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