City of Weir
Weir, Williamson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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 Railroad 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 Resort, 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 prosper again in the mid-20th century. Following voter approval, Weir incorporated as a city in 1987. (2002)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Weir grew from the farms and mills of settlers like Thomas Calvin Weir and the Towns brothers, who arrived in Williamson County in the decades after the Civil War. The town's fate turned on the railroad: when the line came through Weir in 1893 and bypassed nearby Townsville, residents and businesses gradually consolidated into the new community, which incorporated in 1903. A lakeside resort, a 1913 flood, drought, and two world wars each left their mark before Weir became a chartered city in 1987.
Why it matters
Weir's rise and reshaping around a rail line captures how the railroad, more than any founder, decided which Texas farm communities thrived and which faded.
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Related people
- · Thomas Calvin Weir
- · James Francis Towns
- · Robert W. Towns
- · Lucy Weir
Related events
- · Arrival of the Georgetown and Granger Railroad
- · Incorporation of Weir (1987)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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