Heritage, Volume 5, Number 3, Autumn 1987 Page: 16
38 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Lampasas, Texas, looking west from the northwest corner of the public
square (circa 1882). The growth and development of Texas communities
are often the subjects of official Texas Historical Markers.One of the themes in Texas history that appears often
is the influence of railroads. Cities and towns were created
or abandoned; fortunes were gained or lost. Even
county seats were changed to best take advantage of rail
lines. Markers have been erected for many such towns and
provide an historical reference for sites which would have
otherwise gone unrecorded. The selection of county seats
was often a matter of great debate among early citizens,
and markers such as "Shoot-out on Jones Street" in Castro
County and "Parnell" in Roberts County relate these
occasionally violent episodes in Texas local history.
Many individuals who helped shape the state's character
would have gone unnoticed forever if not for the
opportunity to record the "people's history" by means of
historical markers. Small business entrepreneur James
Alexander Amis, whose home in Emory was marked in
1985, operated a sawmill, lumberyard, truck farm, cattle
and hog farm, pickle factory, and an undertaking business,
and also sponsored the launching of a hot air balloon over
the town in 1914. An earlier aviation effort was the subject
of a marker placed in Camp County in 1976. The Rev.
Burrell Cannon designed and built an airship in 1902
based on his interpretation of the ship described in the
biblical book of Ezekiel. Accounts vary as to whether it
ever got off the ground, but the "Ezekiel Airship"
historical marker is one of the most popular in the area.
Former slave Nelson Taylor Denson became a Baptist
preacher, in 1868 organized the Marlin Missionary Baptist
Church, and was instrumental in opening schools for black
children in the county. He became the first elected blackcounty official when he won a seat as county commissioner
in 1882. A 1964 marker tells the story of Sally Scull, a
rancher in Refugio County who ran a freight company
during the Civil War, hauling cotton to Mexico to trade for
guns, ammunition, food, and other goods needed by
Confederate forces in Texas. Often facing hazardous situations,
she was said to be a sure shot with a rifle strapped to
her saddle and two pistols at her side.
From the beginning, the marker program captured the
public's imagination and drew public officials and other
notables to take part in dedication ceremonies. Governor
Price Daniel unveiled the Odessa Meteor Crater marker
in 1962. Bob Hope was a special guest at the dedication of
a Port Arthur marker honoring his friend Mildred "Babe"
Didrikson Zaharias in 1980. Lady Bird Johnson has participated
in several marker dedications over the years, and
Vice President George Bush was in attendance at ceremonies
for the Hotel Texas historical marker in Fort
Worth in 1981.
Will the Texas historical marker program continue
forever? It certainly seems that the state's history will
never cease to be a source of fascination for its citizens and
visitors. As long as that fascination continues, and local
historians are willing to dig through attics, storerooms, and
government records to find and tell their stories, the
demand for a marker program will endure. And as new
means of telling the state's history constantly become
available in this electronic age, the historical markers are
sure to change as well, In so doing, they will certainly
stand as reflections not only of the times about which they
tell, but also of the times in which they were cast.
Francis Rickard is Director, and Cynthia J. Beeman is Historian
for the THC's State Marker Program.16
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 5, Number 3, Autumn 1987, periodical, Autumn 1987; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45439/m1/16/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.