Town of Weimar

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, in my own words. Now, this land you're rolling through has got layers to it, the kind that stack up quiet until you stop and listen. Way back, before Weimar was anything at all, this ground was part of the first Anglo-American colony in Texas.

That's the foundation everything else gets built on. Then came 1873, and with it the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio rail line, and wherever that iron road went, towns had a habit of appearing right alongside it. Sure enough, a townsite grew up right here that same year.

A man named D.W. Jackson donated half the land for the town, and the town got its name from Weimar, Germany. The Post Office opened in 1873 as well, so from the very start, people here were expecting to stay, expecting mail, expecting a future.

By 1875, Weimar had incorporated as a town. That's moving fast for a place that had been open land just a handful of years before. And then came 1887.

Now that's a year worth pausing on. Weimar was enjoying a prosperous cotton economy, had itself many stores, and two newspapers, two, which in those days meant a town had opinions and wasn't afraid to print them. And here's the one that tends to stop people cold.

That local opera house, sitting about a hundred and fifty yards south of this very marker, was built around 1880. One of the first opera houses between Houston and San Antonio. Out here on the coastal plain, folks weren't just hauling cotton, they were dressing up and going to the opera.

The economy today is rooted in agriculture, same as it ever was, and the population stands at two thousand and fifty. The rail came through, the town rose up, and Weimar put on its finest clothes and never quite took them off.

What the marker says

This land--once part of first Anglo-American colony in Texas--grew into a townsite in 1873 with coming of the Galveston, Harrisburg, & San Antonio rail line. D.W. Jackson donated half of land for town, which was named for Weimar, Germany. Post Office was established in 1873. Town incoporated 1875. By 1887 Weimar was enjoying a prosperous cotton economy, had many stores and 2 newspapers. Local opera house (150 yds.S), built about 1880, was one of the first between Houston and San Antonio. Present Economy is based on agriculture. Population is 2,050.