WESTON

city, seat of Lewis county, central West Virginia, U.S., on the West Fork River. The site was surveyed by Colonel Edward Jackson, grandfather of the American Civil War general Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson. Originally named Preston, the town was founded and incorporated in 1818 as the county seat. In 1819 it was renamed Flesherville for Henry Flesher, who had provided the land for the town. The same year the name was changed to Weston when Flesher disassociated himself from the town. During the American Civil War it was alternately occupied by Union and Confederate troops. The discovery of oil and gas in the late 1890s stimulated population growth. Weston has iron and steel foundries, stockyards, textile plants, and a noted glassmaking industry. The building that formerly housed the Weston State (mental) Hospital is one of the nation's largest hand-cut stone buildings; now listed as a national historic landmark, the building was authorized in 1858, although its opening was delayed by the Civil War until 1864. The Lewis County Boots and Saddle Horse Show is held annually in the city. Stonewall Jackson Lake and Dam and Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park are nearby. Inc. city, 1913. Pop. (1990) 4,994; (1998 est.) 4,735.