1884: Crystal Palace Mills, Weatherford, Texas.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
Here are some of the earliest photographs of Weatherford, the Parker County seat, from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram archives, as well as scenes from the 1930s through the 1950s.
1870s: A street scene in Weatherford, Texas, will remind many West Texas cattlemen of the days when wagons hauled hides into Crowdus Brothers on North Main Street. Pictured is the Weatherford branch of Crowdus Brothers. The wagons hauled the hides from this branch to the company in Fort Worth, Texas. Buffalo Hides are drying on the roof of the building. Horses and wagons are parked out front. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
1884: Carson and Lewis House with horse and buggies in front owned by Baker Transfer Co., Weatherford Square. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
1873: Mammy Sikes Hotel with guests and servants, Weatherford, Texas. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
1884: Crystal Palace Mills, Weatherford, Texas. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
1884: Weatherford’s Courthouse Square, with piles of stones for curbing. Citizens’ National Bank, left, and Merchants and Farmers National Bank on right. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
1884: Weatherford, Texas: The First National Bank and Wadley Brother’s Dry Goods Store Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
1884: Methodist Episcopal Church, Weatherford, Texas Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
1884: Weatherford town square during construction of courthouse Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
August 1920: Weatherford, Texas, street scene; carts and horses, people buying produce from farmers. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
June 19, 1945: A rousing “welcome” celebration will greet Lt. Gen. William Hood Simpson at Weatherford, Texas, when he returns to his birthplace next Wednesday from triumphs as 9th Army leader in Europe. Photograph of Weatherford’s “American Gothic-towered” courthouse and bandstand about which the celebration will center. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
March 27, 1939: Weatherford High School marching band on the steps of the school, Weatherford, Texas. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
May 14, 1936: Women’s goodwill tour to Weatherford on behalf of Fort Worth Frontier Centennial; Mrs. Edwin T. Phillips ties cowboy kerchief on R.G. Boger, president of Weatherford College. From left, Mrs. Whitehead, Miss Lotspeich, and Charlotte Max. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
July 8, 1939: At Trading Day in Weatherford, a busy section of the fruit and melon market on the courthouse square Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
July 8, 1939: At Trading Day in Weatherford, Texas. G.A. Holland (right), Weatherford banker and former mayor, inspects Hart cling peaches being sold by J.A. Melton, who owns an orchard 11 miles northwest of town. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
July 8, 1939: At Trading Day in Weatherford, Texas, parked cars of buyers around markets on a Saturday. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
July 8, 1939: At Trading Day in Weatherford, a typical sidewalk scene in the business section of Weatherford includes shoppers and farmers. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
Oct. 1, 1947: The Weatherford, Mineral Wells and Northwestern railroad train that runs once a day between Weatherford and Mineral Wells. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
June 6, 1945: A rousing “welcome” celebration will greet Lt. Gen. William Hood Simpson at Weatherford, Texas, when he returns to his birthplace next Wednesday from triumphs as 9th Army leader in Europe. Photograph of Weatherford’s “American Gothic-towered” courthouse and bandstand about which the celebration will center. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
Aug. 22, 1946: Dave Hudson, left, of Weatherford, Texas; Bill McDowd (center) and Ray Crowler, both of Fort Worth, at the Weatherford Lions Club rodeo. Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
May 5, 1953: Mrs. Achilles Corcanges gives Dr. W.M. Campbell of Weatherford a congratulatory kiss Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
July 29, 1953: A parade in Weatherford, Texas, for the opening of Rodeo and Frontier Day celebrations sponsored by the Parker County Sheriff’s Posse; looking south on Main Street from the Courthouse Dub McPhail Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/UT Arlington Special Collections
MORE: Check out other historic photo galleries from the Star-Telegram archives here, including these:
Matt Leclercq is senior managing editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He previously was an editor at USA Today in Washington, national news editor at Gatehouse Media in Austin, and executive editor of The Fayetteville (NC) Observer. He’s a New Orleans native.
