Weatherford, Texas Historic Downtown in Pictures

Weatherford TX (57)Weatherford, TX , according to the 2010 census, it’s population is a little over 25,000. Part of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex (DFW), Weatherford’s nickname is “Peach Capital of Texas” due to the peaches produced by area growers.

The peach is celebrated each year at the Parker County Peach Festival, which is Weatherford’s largest event and one of the best-attended festivals in Texas

From Wikipedia:

In 1855, Parker County was created by the Texas State Legislature and named for pioneer and State Representative Isaac Parker. Parker was the uncle of Cynthia Ann Parker, a little girl who was stolen from her home by Indians during the Texas Revolution. Cynthia Ann lived among the Comanche and became the mother of Chief Quanah Parker. Later, when she was overtaken in flight with an Indian raiding party, Isaac Parker recognized her as his long-lost niece.

The Town of Weatherford was named for the State Senator for this district, Thomas Jefferson Weatherford (1811-1867) of Dallas. According to his cousin, Senator Weatherford never set foot in the town.

The first settlers had arrived less than ten years earlier. There were many Native American attacks between the years of 1846 and 1874. Several headstones in Parker County read “Killed by Indians.”

The railroad arrived in June 1880. The Santa Fe Depot (which houses the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce) was built in 1908 under Jim Crow laws, with waiting rooms segregated and separated by the ticket office.

In 1895, the town’s still existing daily newspaper, the Weatherford Democrat, began publication. The Weatherford Telegram began publishing as a weekly newspaper in 2006.