DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'm just the one drivin' you past it. In 1933, Weatherford was hurting, the whole country was hurting, and the Great Depression had a grip on this town like a West Texas drought that just won't quit. Jobs were scarce, money was scarcer, and folks were scraping to get by.
Then something happened that doesn't always happen in hard times: the people of Weatherford decided to do something about it. They passed a bond election; went out and voted themselves the funds; to build a brand new city hall and fire station. Nineteen thirty-three, right in the teeth of it all, and construction began immediately.
Now the land itself had been set aside early in the century specifically for city hall and fire department use, so in a sense this project had been a long time comin'. But the timing of when it finally came? That wasn't an accident.
That construction put unemployed people back to work. Gave them wages, gave them purpose, gave them somewhere to be on a Monday morning besides nowhere. What they built wasn't just functional; it was something to look at.
An art deco brick structure, with vertical corbelled pilasters, stone coping, and stone inserts. Somebody cared how this thing looked, and it shows. On January 16, 1934, Weatherford held dedication ceremonies for the new facility.
A town that had been down in the dirt stood up, cut a ribbon, and said: we built that. Right here in the hard times, we built that.
What the marker says
The construction of this city hall created many jobs for the unemployed in Weatherford during the hard times of the Great Depression. Weatherford citizens passed a bond election to provide funds for a new city hall and fire station in 1933, and construction began immediately on this structure, built on land designated early in the century for city hall and fire department use. Dedication ceremonies for the new facility were held on January 16, 1934. The art deco brick structure features vertical corbelled pilasters and stone coping and inserts. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark -1987.