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Community History Archives

Community History Archive Partner

Weston Public LIbrary

Weston, Oregon

Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Weston.

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2Titles

Explore publications and collections from the past.

1878 to 1946Dates represented

See individual titles for available dates.

24,580Archive pages

Historical pages reported for this collection.

Explore local history

Discover the people, places, and stories of Weston, Oregon.

Get to know Weston, Oregon in earlier years through the newspapers shared in the Weston Public LIbrary's digital archive. The archive includes Weston Leader and Weston Weekly Leader, with material from 1878 to 1946.

You can open the archive using the link below.
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  • Selected titles

    In the collection shared by Weston Public LIbrary, you will find “Weston Leader” and “Weston Weekly Leader”.

  • Free and open access

    No subscription or payment required.

  • A closer look

    Newspaper pages connect individual accounts with a wider story, preserving how events were reported and presented to the readers of the day.

Historical newspapers can connect a family name with the events and everyday concerns of an earlier time, offering more than a date or a name on its own. Bring a family connection, a question about a familiar place or an interest in local history, and see where the sources lead. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.

Explore the collection

Titles in this collection

Explore Weston Leader and Weston Weekly Leader through 24,580 digitized pages, with material from 1878 to 1946. A partnership between Weston Public LIbrary and Advantage Archives makes this collection available. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.

If you are tracing a family connection or exploring local history, the titles below offer a place to begin and a thread to follow.

Weston Leader

24,156 pages from 1903 to 1946

Weston Weekly Leader

424 pages from 1878 to 1892

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About the Archive

About The Weston Public Library’s History Archives

Established in 1912, the Weston Public Library has been maintained through compassionate community engagement for over 100 years. Over those 100 years, the local newspaper captured the accounts of the people, places, and events that shaped Weston. Through its partnership with Advantage Archives , the library offers free access to its historical newspaper collection featuring the Weston Weekly Leader (1878-1892) and the Weston Leader (1903-1946), providing a valuable resource for exploring and discovering the rich history of Weston, Oregon, and the surrounding area.

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About the Library

About The Weston Public Library

The Weston Public Library serves the people of Weston and the surrounding area by providing books and other materials to meet their informational, educational, and recreational needs. The library upholds the principles of intellectual freedom by providing people of all ages with access to information that reflects diverse points of view. The library’s collection includes regular and large print books, magazines, audiobooks, music CDs, DVDs, and VHS tapes. The library also offers access to Texshare databases, interlibrary loan services, and various programs for all ages, including summer reading programs, story times, craft nights, and movie events. The library hosts a monthly genealogy club and has an extensive genealogy collection.

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Library History

The History Of The Weston Public Library

The Weston Library dates back to 1912 when Mrs. Norah Watts and Mrs. George Proebstel circulated a petition for a small tax levy to finance it. The levy passed, and a tea was held, with admission being one book to secure more library books. The first library opened in the D.B. Jarman Department Store, with Eliza Morrison as the first librarian. Over the years, the library moved to various locations until its present site, Dr. Watts’ office on Water Street, was established in 1933.

About the Community

About Weston, Oregon

Weston, Oregon, named by T.T. Lieuallen after Weston, Missouri, is the second oldest town in Umatilla County. Located east of Athena and south of Milton-Freewater, Weston was incorporated in 1878. The town's early days saw the establishment of the Eastern Oregon State Normal School, a training school for teachers. Weston has a rich history of community involvement and development, with its first mayor being T.J. Lucy and its first stagecoach driven by Charles Patterson.

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About the Community

About Umatilla County, Oregon

Umatilla County, established on September 27, 1862, from a portion of Wasco County, is named after an Indian term meaning "rippling water." The county has a diverse history, with its economy historically based on agriculture, including fruit, grain, timber, cattle, and sheep. The Umatilla Indian Reservation, established in 1855, is home to the Umatillas, Walla Wallas, and Cayuse tribes. Umatilla County is known for its rich historical sites, agricultural base, and the annual Pendleton Round-Up rodeo.

Local History

Did You Know?

Weston was home to the Eastern Oregon State Normal School, which served as a training ground for teachers from 1882 and became a bona fide state school in 1893. The library’s early days included charging for services, with story-telling sessions costing $0.05 per hour and book loans at $0.05 per week, reflecting the community’s innovative ways to support the library.

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More ways to explore and share local history

Research Guidance

Look for the story behind a result

Start with something you would like to understand about the past of Weston. It might be a person, a neighborhood or an event remembered in your family. Use the digital archive shared by the Weston Public LIbrary to follow that question into the historical record. When using historical newspapers, try alternate spellings and nearby dates, then read the surrounding page to place a local story in its time. Compare later reporting or another available title to explore different perspectives rather than treating one account as the whole story. Search a person, place, or event with a second term, then compare the date and context of each result. A repeated name needs more evidence before it identifies the same person or connects two parts of a story.

After recording the issue and page, search a second term tied to the result and compare the surrounding dates and accounts. Keep matching names provisional until the place and context fit. This can turn one result into a better question without turning a repeated name into a confirmed story.

Capture the title, date, and page or item location for a detail you may want to revisit. Label your interpretation as your reading, not the source's own words. Keep enough context with the note that another reader can retrace it.

Review collection titles

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Community Partnership

Keeping local history a community resource

This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Weston Public LIbrary, its community, and Advantage Archives. Together, these partnerships preserve local sources and give people a way to explore, learn from, and share the history around them.

Advantage Archives covers ongoing archive hosting, storage, development, and maintenance. The institution and its community do not pay a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or other recurring archive-service charge. Local history remains a community resource, not a subscription to maintain.

Would you like to see more of your community's history preserved and accessible? Start a conversation with your library, newspaper publisher, historical or genealogical society, museum, or school about the materials they would like to share and a possible partnership with Advantage Archives.

Learn about partnerships
Read All About It

Stories, research tips, and archive news

Read All About It connects archive research with the people and institutions preserving local history. Explore partner and community stories, project updates, research ideas, and perspectives on digitization, education, and working with primary sources. Use the articles as a starting point for your next question or a new way to share a discovery.

Newest published articles

March 18, 2025

It’s Your Community’s History, So Why Rent Something You Own?

We believe that history belongs to the communities where it was made - not locked behind paywalls or inaccessible due to budget restrictions. Subscription-based services and large content aggregators are generally more concerned with "content" and less concerned with the history that content contains. Their models typically involve a reoccurring charge for a plan that renews annually or licensing agreements with the library based on population served or circulation numbers. You are essentially Renting Access To YOUR History.
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