The unique history of the Weatherby Lake community will be celebrated this weekend with the unveiling of one of a series of planned historical markers.
The public is invited to the dedication ceremony at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6 at the Weatherby Lake Community Center, located just under the landmark Weatherby Lake water tower just off Barry Road.
“I have a real urgency to make sure we preserve the histories and stories at the lake,” said Pat Medill, who has lived at the lake for more than 50 years and serves on the city’s historical committee. “We want to get the markers up because people who have been here for decades are getting scarce.”
The City of Weatherby Lake, which was incorporated in 1959, has seen some turnover of residents in the last decade, she said. Young families are moving into the community, drawn by the private lake and other amenities.
Previously, the historical committee installed a marker at the Anders Jacks Cemetery — one of the oldest in Platte County. After the community center marker is installed, the committee hopes to get to work on raising funds to install markers at Weatherby Lake City Hall and at the dam.
The Weatherby Lake Community Center was first built in 1934 as a riding academy established by Stanley Stanton and Fritz Weatherby — of the namesake family of Weatherby Lake. The stone building later became the Boots and Saddle Club. Over the years, the building served various purposes until it was purchased by the city in 1969. It was opened as the community center in 1970 and renovated in the 1990s.
Purchasing the markers for each site is pricey, and the historical committee has held various fund raisers, including selling t-shirts, collectibles and other items, as well as seeking grants from Platte County Parks and Recreation.
Donations are always appreciated.
Medill said she and the members of the committee are constantly collecting bits of the history of Weatherby Lake. In 1996, this history was collected into a hardbound book, The Chronicles of Weatherby Lake.
The area was originally made up of original pioneers and a few vacation cabins used on weekends by wealthy families in Kansas City, developers started purchasing larger parcels of land from settlers in the 1920s.
Around 1936, Glenn Weatherby began buying up land as well, and together with E.C. Thompson began the construction of a dam that would eventually create the 274 acre Weatherby Lake. The dam was completed in 1937, and provided the residents with a place to fish, swim and boat.
“There has been some discussion on which project we’ll tackle next,” Medill said. “Without the dam, there would be no Weatherby Lake.”
However, the city hall building has its own colorful history, as it was once the Rock Front Tavern and in 1975 was blown up by a group of wayward youths.
“I remember some of this history,” Medill said. “I can remember drinking water from the lake and when we ran on propane and septic tanks.”
As a child, Medill remembers her father trading stone work on a friend’s home for fishing time in the lake. Eventually, she moved there herself and said some families are on their second or third generations as lake residents.
“Thompson, William Workman and the Weatherbys had a unique vision of a private lake and a residential community in southern Platte County,” Medill said, and today that vision is still thriving, with the community continuing to grow and attract new residents.
Today, Weatherby Lake consists of about 800 homes. At the 2010 census, the city’s population was about 1,700 residents. The city’s historical committee currently includes Judy Shafe, president, and seven additional members.