Villages reached their peak about 1910. Following this, they began their downward trend. Weston was no exception. While, unlike some, it did not pass out of existence, its importance began, gradually, to dwindle.

          About 1910, Weston had four general stores, three grain elevators, two churches, one (part of the time two) physicians, a barber shop, a blacksmith shop, a post office, a railroad depot, a boarding house (sometimes referred to as a hotel since it fed and lodged itinerant drummers or runners, as traveling salesmen were sometimes called in those days), a telephone exchange, an opera house, and a fraternal lodge. (See plat of Weston that follows).

          These supplied most of the needs of the residents and those farmers that resided in the area. Today, all of these are gone, with the exception of one grain elevator, which probably does a bigger volume of business than did all the business enterprises taken together in 1910.

          It is doubtful if more than one or two persons now residing in Weston were alive and living there in 1910. Only a few people have any recollection of Weston as it existed at that time. When these older people are gone, all information regarding Weston in its heyday will have been lost.

          Any picture of Weston as it was must be obtained from these senior citizens. Without a doubt the one "old-timer" who knows more about Weston and its early history is C. E. "Bud" Wink, Fairbury. He was born and reared near Weston and has spent his entire life in this general area. His recollections go back to the late 1890’s. It was Bud who supplied most of the information reported here. Three others, who have some recollections of the early days, reviewed the information supplied by "Bud" or checked on items on which he was not quite positive -- Mrs. Christine Roeseler Jacobs, Pontiac, who was born and lived near Weston until moving to Pontiac some 10 years ago, and two sisters who were born and reared at the outskirts of Weston, went to school there, and spent most of their lives in the area, Mrs. Hazel Farley Leffingwell, Fairbury, and Mrs. Lillian Farley Hanes, Weston.

          The plant of Weston, together with the Legend that accompanies enables one to locate all the families was well as all the various business, social, and cultural enterprises that constituted the village of Weston in 1910.

          A word about the accuracy of this material is in order. While recognizing that no one’s memory is infallible, it is believed that this report based on the only evidence available, the memory of early citizens, is accurate as far as names are concerned.

          Any inaccuracies that it may contain spring from the fact that it does, in a general way, attempt to locate the residences of the persons or families identified. While it is believed that the locations are accurate as far as city blocks and streets are concerned, it must be admitted it may err, at times, in locating residences with respect to other residences in the same block. In any case, the locations are approximately correct and any errors are of minor significance in providing a picture of Weston as it was some 70 years ago.