Weimar, Texas Chamber of Commerce

Weimar History

The community was first called Jackson, after D.W. Jackson, a native Georgian and area landowner who donated land for the railroad right-of-way and the town site. The populace subsequently chose the name Weimar and early records indicate that Thomas W. Pierce, who authorized Jackson to sell lots at the site, had visited Weimar, Germany, and was favorably impressed.

Incorporated in July, 1875, it became an early cotton center. Today the city is still an agriculture production center as well as a modern business community.

Weimar Post Office

The Weimar Post Office was established in 1873. The town was incorporated in 1875. After beginning with a few hundred townspeople, Weimar had by its tenth birthday achieved a population of over 1,000. As it grew Weimar established itself as a center of trade for pecans, poultry and dairy products. By 1877 the town was large enough to make its first city map.

Weimar Mercury - Historic Newspaper

In 1888 Weimar witnessed the origin of its historic newspaper, the Weimar Mercury, which remains in publication today. Throughout the twentieth century Weimar enjoyed a slow yet steady growth in population, increasing by over 250 every ten years. Business establishments held their number steady at around seventy. After a population high of 2,400 in 1976, the town declined slightly in the following decade. In 2002 the population hovers around 2,100 folks.

Weimar Water Tower

Before wireless communication, cell phones, and email, the Weimar Welcomes You water tower played a very important roll for emergency communication. Back when you had to pick up your phone and ask an operator connect you to the person you wished to speak with, contacting the authorities could be a difficult task. The Sheriff was usually out 'keeping the peace' and there was no quick way to get in touch with him. So the community devised an emergency communication system.

In the event of an emergency, you would contact the operator and let her know that you needed assistance. She would then flip the main switch that controlled a light, located on the bottom of the water tower, which was visible for miles around. The Sheriff would either see the light or be notified that there was an emergency, and would call the operator to find out what the problem was.

 

Heritage Society Museum of Weimar

No Admission Fee
Group tours available

Hours:
Wednesdays 2pm-4pm
Saturdays 10am-4pm

Old Hill Bank Building
125 E Main St
Weimar, TX 78962

Information Call:
(979) 725-8203
(979) 725-8804
(979) 725-8478
(979) 725-9511
Free:(888) 3-WEIMAR

Housed in the Old Hill Bank building. The Heritage Society Museum of Weimar, Inc. focuses on exhibits tracing the city's history, beginning with the original land grant from the Spanish government to Henry Austin in 1831.

Surveying tools and personal effects of Weimar's founder, D.W. Jackson, are displayed.

The Main Street area gives a fascination glimpse of life into Weimar's early days. Strolling down "the street," visitors can view a doctor's office with a full-size skeleton on a stand beside an old-fashioned examining table. Clearly in view is an amputation kit and a wooden leg belonging to Peg-Leg Strunk, an early area rancher.

A dentist office, department store, bank, blacksmith forge, a facsimile of the old Mercury newspaper printing shop, a barber ship and beauty salon all make up the museum's Main Street.

The early country kitchen exhibit is complete with a Hoosier cabinet, the pride of any 1900's housewife. First manufactured in Indiana, these cabinets took their name from the Hoosier state. A poppy-seed grinder is clamped to the worktable, ready for making poppy-seed filled Kolaches.

Photographs of the people who created Weimar's history fill the museum's walls. Pictures include wedding couples, children at play, farmers at work, and buddies cooling off at a local saloon on a hot Texas day.

Treasured keepsakes of the area families share space with souvenir artifacts from Weimar's commercial past. Old ledgers and hand cancellations in the Hill Bank exhibit show how financial institutions once operated. (A nearby three-ton black iron safe is ornamented in elaborate gold filigree.) Don't think the flapper-style evening gown in the bank room is out of place. It belonged to Pearl Hill Kindred, the first woman bank officer in Texas.

The Military Room features uniforms and G.I. memorabilia from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf conflict. Among the most unusual items is a water-cooled machine gun from W.W. I and Nazi banners from W.W.II. There's even a Civil War cannonball, recently unearthed east of town. The Military Room's exterior wall holds the Weimar's Veteran Roll, which lists area residents who have served in the United States Armed Forces.

The pharmacy exhibit is most impressive. An inlaid majolica tile soda fountain from the old Farmer's Drug Store greets visitors to this section. One can easily imagine enjoying a long-ago Saturday afternoon with a cool fountain drink or scoop of ice cream.

Pharmaceutical items, housed in original drug store cabinets and cases, include remedies and patent medicines such as Doctor Thatcher's Liver and Blood Syrup and Grandma's Household Remedies. A vast collection of mortars and pestles, pharmaceutical tools, bottles, and books line the walls. Prohibition-era prescriptions for alcohol, written in 1924 for a man and his wife prompt comments about "medicinal uses" of spirits. Both scripts carry the same date. Perhaps the couple was giving a party that evening?

The museum takes pride in its preservation of Weimar's past. Among its holdings is an extensive collection of old Weimar school yearbooks and many photos of the community's early baseball teams.

At one time, the majority of area citizens made their living in agriculture. One of the early cotton-seed oil mills in Texas existed in Weimar (1876).

In 1926, when the Texas Pickle Company opened, farmers began planting cucumbers to supply the brining vats. The factory operated for thirty years.

Displayed in the museum are such items as a bathtub-sized copper kettle used in commercial pickle producing and a manual hay press (circa 1900). This valuable modern piece of equipment (in its day) was shared by a group of farmers.

The newest addition to the Heritage Society Museum is the Weimar Volunteer Firefighter's exhibit, which houses a vintage Seagrave pumper and hose truck, 1890 house cart, uniforms and photographs.

The museum annex, located on Post Office Street, houses the "Rural Americana" exhibit. Against a country scene back drop, visitors can view examples of typical farm implements known to have come from area farmers.