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History in
a Pecan Shell
Founded as a station
on the railroad
in 1903, the town was named after Calvin Weir, an early settler. Weir
drew it's first population from citizens of nearby Townsville. Townsville,
aka Towns Mill had been bypassed by the railroad.
Weir inherited the Townsville post office - after a change of name.
By 1914 Weir had a population of 200 a bank and two stores. The population
peaked with 300 people - just as the Great Depression hit. By 1968
it was down to 100 - where it has more or less remained. |
City of Weir
historical marker
FM 971, between South Main and CR 120
TE photo |
Historical Marker:
City of Weir
Tenessee-native
Thomas Calvin Weir (1826-1901) came to Williamson
County in 1856. He bought land in this area and became a prosperous
farmer. Alabaman James Francis Towns (1850-1937) came in 1870 and
settled nearby on the San Gabriel River. He and his brother, Robert
W. Towns (1848-1938), operated a gin and blacksmith shop, as well
as Towns' Mill.
In the late 19th century, the communities of Weir and Townsville (or
Towns' Mill) grew around these early settlers. Churches included Baptist
and Presbyterian congregations that met at the Prairie Springs School,
as well as an African American church that met in a school near Mankins
Crossing. Calvin Weir's daughter, Lucy, served as postmaster at the
post office in Townsville, where she also ran a small store.
The communities developed similarly until 1893, when the Georgetown
and Granger Railrad came through Weir, bypassing Townsville. In 1903,
after the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad (MKT) bought the line,
known as the Katy, most area residents moved into the town of Weir,
officially established that same year. The Katy Lake Resory, created
by MKT on the river at Towns' Mill Dam, attracted tourists to the
area. The Townsville post office moved to Weir, and with several new
businesses, the town began to thrive.
A flood in 1913 damaged the resort and several local businesses, and
after a severe drought, World
War I and the Great Depression, Weir's population faltered but
began to prosber again in the mid-20th century. Following voter approval,
Weir incorporated as a city in 1987.
(2002) |
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
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