Platte County, Missouri History On the St. Joseph-Kansas City Electric Line is one of the newest towns in the county, Ferrelview. It, too, has a bank and several stores. Being on Highway 71, thre are several garages and near there and around Linkville, a mile further east, one may find "spring chickens", "honey" and "eggs for sale" poster boards. New Market at one time was the principal shipping point of interior Platte County. With the coming of the highway, business has had an impetus and all the stores are combining to make New Market a worth while place for the homefolks as well as the tourists. Woodruff is the only town besides Weston in the Weston township and is located in Bee Creek Valley on the Chicago Great Western Railroad, six miles east of Weston. This is a center for wheat, hogs and cattle shipping. Dye, situated in Marshall township, six miles northwest of Weston is the center of a rich farming community, located in the midst of the beautiful rolling country that lies around the headwaters of Bear Creek. East Leavenworth is the junction between points in Kansas and the regular C. B & Q route. The plug meets the trains daily. SOME FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW Do you know that Weston is the largest town in Platte County and is the best town in the state of like population of 1200? Did you know that it has more miles of paved streets than any town its size in Missouri? Did you know that it has five blocks of standard White Way with fifty poles? Did you know that it has municipally owned water works? Did you know that it has day and night electric light and telegraph service and all residential streets lighted? Did you know that it has 320 miles of rural telephone wire servicing 190 homes, and 230 city telephones? Did you know that it has free mail delivery twice each day and has had rural free delivery for thirty years? WESTON The birthplace of famous Pony Express and Great Hemp Port now Tobacco center of Missouri. The city was incorporated January 11, 1842; in 1852 it was granted a new charter and in 1802, it became a city of the fourth class.

In 1842 one of the additional business names listed was E. Cody, uncle of Buffalo Bill. Mr. Cody opeated one of Weston's largest hemp houses at one time. The Eagle, Platte County's first newspaper was published here in the Spring of 1943 having been issued on handbills during the winter. The first telephone was installed in 1871. The first public school was built in 1868. The first church was built in 1849. The first electric light system was built in 1900. The first county fair was held in 1858. The first opera house was built in 1885. The first daily mail service was instituted in 1870. The first railroad here came in 1869. If a circle were drawn around six of the centers of the United States, Platte County would be almost in the middle of that circle: Wheat center, Nebraska; Georgraphical center, Kansas; Oat center, Iowa; Cattle center, Lead and Zinc center and Farm Production center, Western Missouri. The Corn center is on the Illinois-Missouri boundary, the Horse and Mule center and Hog center are also in Missouri, the Cotton center in Arkansas and the Population center in Indiana. Platte county is decidedly in the Heart of America. On November 7, 1872, the Platte County Court divided the county into 13 townships: Camden Point; Fail; Pettis;Lee; Magee; May; New Market; Parkville; Waldron; Ridgely; Salem; Miller and Weston. ************************************************************************ File contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Platte County USGenWeb Coordinator USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other presentation. ************************************************************************