Weatherford Texas got its start 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 legendary Cynthia Ann Parker, a little girl who was stolen from her home by Indians during the Texas Revolution. Cynthia Ann grew up among the Comanche and become the mother of the great Chief, Quanah Parker. Years later, when she was overtaken in flight with an Indian raiding party, it was Isaac Parker who recognized her as his long lost niece.
The Town of Weatherford was named for the State Senator of this district, Jefferson Weatherford of Dallas. According to his cousin, Senator Weatherford never set foot in the town that bears his name.
The first settlers had arrived less than ten years earlier, but soon came by the hundreds. Many other pioneers stopped here on their way across the wilderness traveling the only major road leading west. They had to brave many Indian attacks between the years of 1846 and 1874. You can find several headstones in Parker County that read “Killed by Indians.”
The railroad arrived in June of 1880 with great fanfare. The Santa Fe Depot (that today houses the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce) was built in 1908 under the Jim Crow laws. The waiting rooms were segregated and separated by the ticket office. The brick loading platform remains intact and the building is well preserved.
In 1895, the town’s newspaper, the Weatherford Democrat, began and today continues to inform the residents of the town’s goings-on.
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