PrintWeston, Missouri
EnlargeIn the summer of 1804, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and gang explored the banks of the Missouri River in what is now Platte County, Missouri, just northwest of Kansas City. In his journal, Clark wrote of the lovely rolling hills and open prairie, calling the area “the most butifull Plains, I ever Saw.”
Other than standardized spelling of the English language, surprisingly little has changed in Platte County in the last 200 years, particularly in the little town of Weston. About 30 years after Lewis and Clark made their return journey through the area, Weston was officially founded, and at one point nearly 5,000 people lived in what was once the busiest river port along the Missouri, second only to St. Louis. In that day, Kansas City was little more than a place to pick up firewood for the boilers of most riverboats.
Today, metro KC is home to about 2 million residents, and Weston, less than 2,000. If you ask most people in the region, they wouldn’t have it any other way. Weston is a popular getaway for folks from throughout northwest Missouri, southern Iowa, and as far away as Omaha, Nebraska, who come seeking the idyllic charm of this rural community surrounded by apple orchards, cornfields, and tobacco farms.
EnlargeA number of the homes and businesses in Weston’s historic district date to the 1840s, long before the Overland stagecoach line set the groundwork for the Pony Express. Here, a young William Cody, later known as Buffalo Bill Cody, would spend a summer with his Uncle Elijah.
The river that Lewis and Clark explored has always played a pivotal role in the community’s interests, bringing as many as 300 riverboats to town each year in its heyday. But numerous floods of the Missouri in the second half of the 19th century changed the river’s channel, moving it two miles west of downtown.
Some say that’s when Weston died, but in a greater sense, as the river abandoned the city, the peaceful community it is today was born. Looking west down Main Street from the massive front porch of the Benner House Bed & Breakfast, one of seven in the town, you’d be right if you thought Weston didn’t look much different now than it did in the days when steamboats docked at the foot of Main.
The Weston Brewing Company, established in 1842, is still here, now welcoming guests to eat and drink at the American Bowman Restaurant and O’Malley’s Pub. And the Avalon Caf√e; is still serving hungry travelers, as it has since 1847. With kerosene lamps and hand-hewn furniture dominating the d√e;cor, it’s just the occasional buzz of a cell phone that separates today from yesterday in many parts of Weston.
Other than a now-vintage neon sign for Hotpoint Appliances hanging from the Sebus Brothers True Value hardware store, the majority of shops on Main and its feeder streets also appear much as they did a century and a half ago. This is the America of original tin ceilings and wooden floors, squeaky screen doors slightly askew on their hinges, and soda fountains dispensing goodies.
EnlargeAntiques and knickknacks fill some storefronts, but other shops, like family-owned Missouri Bluffs, are upscale boutiques showcasing couture clothing lines and accessories. Like many purveyors in the town, McCormick Country Store has a history that dates back generations. This is the historic landmark where the McCormick Distilling Company has been taking advantage of Missouri’s limestone springs to distill whiskey since 1856, making it the oldest distillery in the United States still operating at its original site‚ and the best place in town for visitors 21 years old or older to have a shot of the past.
But don’t limit yourself to Main Street. To discover all that makes Weston such an appealing destination in the 21st century, wander along the meandering country roads and explore. You’ll find stores stocked with apples, peaches, pumpkins, and other fresh produce in season; the Weston Bend State Park and Lewis and Clark State Park for fabulous hiking, picnicking, and views of the river; a smattering of additional antiques shops; and lovely antebellum bed-and-breakfasts. And, lest we forget, there are still those bucolic vistas of plains William Clark called the most beautiful he had ever seen.
Weston, Missouri: For more information on this historic Missouri river town, visit www.westonmo.com or call 888.635.7457. To find out more about the region, contact the Platte County Visitors Bureau at 888.875.2883 or visit www.co.platte.mo.us/county_visitor_guide/index.html.
Cactus Creek
Fancy Smith is your Weston guide to rustic, Western, vintage style.
Fancy Smith likes to say that it was a job that took her to Kansas, but it was a boy who kept her there. We like to say that it was her name that got our attention but her sense of style that keeps us following Fancy. A native of Houston and a graduate of Texas A&M University, Fancy and her man first headed to Topeka, Kansas, but they eventually settled across the state line in the tiny river town of Weston, Missouri. It’s a charming place to raise their family, and it’s a good location for operating‚ with her mother-in-law, Connie‚ an engaging little business called Cactus Creek.
Enlarge“We enjoy both sides of life in Weston,” Fancy says. “We wake up in a little town filled with history and charm, but in less than 30 minutes, we can be in the heart of a major metropolis.” And Cactus Creek fits right into that Western sophistication with a collection Fancy describes as rustic, Western, vintage, edgy, and contemporary. To keep her inventory hopping, she makes trips to Round Top, Texas, twice a year for her fill of antiques, and there’s never a garage sale, estate sale, or auction she doesn’t take time to stop at.
In addition to antiques gathered here and there and some imports from Mexico, Cactus Creek features the work of seven artists, some from the Midwest and some from the Southwest‚ among them, Kat Ford of Corpirate, based in Stanley, New Mexico; Dolan Geiman out of Chicago; and sculptor Rhett Johnson from Dearborn, Missouri.
Fancy enjoys the art community that thrives in the Kansas City, Missouri, area and sees its positive impact on the sophistication of traffic through Weston. “Weston really is a very tight little community with people from all over the country finding their way here,” she says. Many people who follow Fancy’s blog (www.cactus-creekdaily.com) come to love Weston as she and her family do.
One of her favorite places in town is O’Malley’s Pub, an oh-so-very authentic Irish pub in the underground cellars of the Weston Brewing Company. Live music on the weekends is mostly Irish and Old World. It’s dark and crowded and rowdy‚ proof that even though Weston is no longer the busy river port of the wild old days, there’s still some Wild West left in this charming corner of the middle of the country. — D.L.M
Cactus Creek: 400 Main St., Weston, Missouri, 816.878.2278. Follow Fancy’s blog‚ the Cactus Creek guide to rustic, Western, vintage style‚ at www.cactuscreekdaily.com.
Fancy’s Favorites: An Insider’s Guide To Weston
Good Eating: Pastimes Bar and Grill for cheeseburgers, sweet potato fries, and iced tea (710 Thomas St., 816.640.2841). The Vineyards restaurant for a romantic candlelit dinner in a cozy antebellum home (505 Spring St., 816.640.5588, www.thevineyardsrestaurant.com).
Great Weston Weekends: Visit Weston in the spring for antiques, wineries, and spring flowers. In the fall, head to the Weston Red Barn Farm for hayrides and pumpkin picking (www.westonredbarnfarm.com). In the winter, you can ski, snowboard, and tube at the Snow Creek ski area, one of the Midwest’s best ski slopes (www.skisnowcreek.com).
Favorite Local Events: Don’t miss the Lions Club Antique & Collectible Show every April; this year’s show will be the 28th annual, happening April 23 - 24. There’s also the Weston 10 Mile Trail Antique & Garden Show, which usually takes place the first weekend of August (www.weston10miletrail.com). And don’t forget the Weston Irish Festival, held this year October 8 - 10 at O’Malley’s Pub‚ Irish music, dancing, piping, and Irish “fare and wares,” including beer, Bailey’s, and Bushmills (www.westonirish.com).
Issue Reference
Issue: April 2010
