[4] In 1887, Jefferson Weston and Frank Mondell found rich coal deposits north of Newcastle which caused a railroad to be built through the area.

[5] As of the 2000 United States Census,[9] there were 6,644 people, 2,624 households, and 1,868 families in the county.

25.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 7,208 people, 3,021 households, and 1,957 families in the county.

[10] In terms of ancestry, 31.7% were German, 19.3% were Irish, 18.5% were English, 6.6% were Norwegian, 6.1% were Swedish, and 5.6% were American.

[13] Like all of the High Plains, and almost all of Wyoming, Weston County is overwhelmingly Republican.

Woodrow Wilson carried the county in 1912 as a result of a split between the conservative incumbent William Howard Taft and Progressive ex-President Theodore Roosevelt, whilst in his two 1930s landslides Franklin D. Roosevelt became the other Democrat to win Weston County, although he defeated Republican Alf Landon in 1936 by just 109 votes.

Subsequent to Lyndon Johnson losing the county to Barry Goldwater by just fifty-four votes in 1964, no Democrat has passed 35 percent of Weston County's vote.

[16][17] The facility was operated by the Wyoming Board of Charities and Reform until that agency was dissolved as a result of a state constitutional amendment passed in November 1990.