The Weston Historical Society

Founded in 1963 at the time of the town’s 250th Anniversary, the Weston Historical Society is a private, non-profit organization run entirely by volunteers. Our mission is to collect, preserve, and make available objects, photographs, and memorabilia relating to the history of Weston, and to educate residents about our community heritage.  Our funding comes primarily from membership dues and contributions. We welcome your membership!

Five members of the Fifes & Drums of the Lincoln Militia Men entertained at Weston's Spring Fling last May. WHS volunteers gave tours of the Josiah Smith Tavern and served lemonade and cookies on the porch. Special thanks to Mary Harder. (Photo courtesy of Glen Harder, l-r: Don Hafner, Ruth Hodges, and Weston residents Reed Harder, Mary Harder, and Kelly Pendergast)

Status of Plans for a New
Weston History Center

At the November 2009 Special Town Meeting, voters rejected a proposal to spend an additional $300,000 of Community Preservation Act (CPA) money to complete plans for the Josiah Smith Tavern/Old Library project. As proposed, the project included developing a restaurant and bar in the Josiah Smith Tavern, a new home for the Women’s Community League in the main floor of the Old Library, and a Weston History Center and Town Archive in the lower level.

The Weston History Center and Town Archive was to provide climate-controlled storage for the town’s archival records and space for permanent and changing displays on Weston history. It was planned to be a research facility where Weston historical materials could be accessed and was to provide meeting and program space for the Weston Historical Society and Weston Historical Commission.

The restaurant and related impacts on the town center were the central focus of opposition to the project. The Weston History Center and Town Archive component was not controversial in itself but was integral to the overall plan and thus is in limbo at present.

ABOUT US

Committee, Society, Commission: What’s the Difference?

Weston Historical Committee
(1932 – 1968)

The Weston Historical Committee was established by a vote of Town Meeting in 1931.  The Bicentennial of George Washington’s birth was just one year away. Statewide plans called for the dedication of the Massachusetts section of the George Washington Memorial Highway, which passed through Weston on Boston Post Road. The three-person committee arranged for festivities under the Burgoyne Elm in 1932 and noted in the Town Report that “The Historical Committee will be glad to take charge of any articles or papers of historic interest that may be sent to them, and are hoping eventually to have a permanent place for exhibiting such things.”

By 1937, the Fiske Law Office had become the committee’s headquarters, serving as a place to keep and exhibit a small but growing collection. In 1953 the Weston Historical Committee moved to the Josiah Smith Tavern, then known as the Jones House, which had been willed to the Society for Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA, now Historic New England) by the Jones sisters and subsequently leased to the town.  The Weston Historical Committee represented the town’s historical interests until 1968.

Weston Historical Society

(1963—present)

Pictured at a Society open house at the Josiah Smith Tavern (then known as the Jones House) in 1964 are, from left, Mrs. Edmund U. Ritter, archivist; Mrs. Henry W. Patterson; Mrs. James E. Fraser, curator; Harold G. Travis, president of the Society; and Mrs. F. Leslie Ford. (Photo courtesy of WHS)

The Weston Historical Society was incorporated as a private, non-profit organization in December 1963, at the end of Weston’s 250th year. The three members of the existing Weston Historical Committee served on the larger board of the Weston Historical Society. In 1966 the society petitioned the Board of Selectmen for care and informal custody of the Fiske Law Office, which was restored by volunteers. In 1990, the Town resumed responsibility for the law office. All remaining historical materials were moved to the Josiah Smith Tavern. From the 1960s to the present, the collections of both the Historical Committee and Historical Society continued to be housed at the Josiah Smith Tavern. In 1983, ownership of the tavern was transferred to the Town, with preservation restrictions.

The Historical Society has occupied rooms in the Josiah Smith Tavern since its founding. This photograph was taken about 1987. (Photo courtesy of WHS)

Weston Historical Commission

(1968—present)

In 1968 the town voted to form the Weston Historical Commission to replace the Weston Historical Committee and serve as the town’s official body for administration of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The Special Town Meeting vote of 1968 included a provision to “transfer to the custody of the historical commission . . . all property of the Town now in the custody of the historical committee.”

From its inception, the commission focused on preserving the historic buildings of the town rather than collecting and managing historical materials. Some historical objects were used to furnish the Weston Historical Commission office on the second floor of the Josiah Smith Tavern. The tradition of overlap between members of the Weston Historical Committee/Commission and the Weston Historical Society continues to this day.