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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay is Historic Preservation Monthtime to enjoy our local history to The Eagle ANTHONY ay is National Historic Preservation Month and Col- lege Station's Historic Preservation Committee would like to remind the community of the importance of preserving our local , history. It holds value. for us today as well as for our children and grand- children. Throughout College Station and Bryan are a number of projects, pro- grams and activities that are of sig- nificant historical interest. The American Mile History Trail opens today at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex on Harvey Road in College Station. Activities to mark the opening start at 11:30 a.m. in the new American Pavilion. Taking a stroll on the mile-long path offers reminders of 231 years of history important to our country, state and local area. Every 20 feet are engraved bands inscribed with historical events for each year, beginning with 1776. For example, the marker for 1841 reminds its reader that the 10th U.S. president was John Tyler, who took office upon the death of President ,William Henry Harrison. That same year, the Amistad mutineers were freed by the Supreme Court because they had been illegally enslaved, Bra- zos County was established with Boonville as the county seat, and Harvey Mitchell taught school at the home of Richard Carter, the firsf set- tler in College Station. The markers provide an excellent educational tool for school children and everyone who visits the park for its many athletic and commemora- tive events. May is Historic Preservation Month, making it the perfect time to visit the American Mile and other historical points in Brazos County, College Station and Bryan. Among the many local historical sites is the Carnegie Center of Brazos Valley History on Main Street in Bryan. Built in 1903, it reflects the classic Greek Revival style of arclii- tecture. It's the oldest surviving Carnegie Library in Texas and hous- es acomprehensive collection of genealogical materials. Nearby, many lovely old homes and a variety of other buildings built in the later 1800s remain and have also been refurbished. For years, the Academic Building at Texas A&M dominated the cam- pus; the light burning in its copper dome was visible for miles. Feeling the need for target practice, students occasionally. would shoot at it with rifles in hopes of extinguishing what was called "Prexy's Moon." Perhaps these were the same rifles used to hunt wolves along Wolf Pen Creek. When a visitor walks flights of stairs in the Academic Building, the deeply worn marble reflects the grooves created by the steps of past and present Aggies. Driving through the Oakwood and Southside subdivisions near George Bush Drive in College Station pro- vides avisual reminder of the design variety of homes moved from the A&M .campus. By 1938, when College Station was incorporated, more than 100 homes on campus housed faculty and staff. The A&M Board of Directors - as regents. were then known -felt the homes inhibited expansion for instructional facilities and decided they would be sold to their inhabi- tants for sums varying from $200 to $800. The same homes today would probably sell from $100,000 to $600,000. Beginning 1n 1941, pur- chasers were required to relocate the houses from their original sites. Historical markers denote most of them. The oldest is the home at 611 Montclair St. Local cemeteries provide a wealth of historic information. Visiting the Boonville Cemetery in Bryan takes you to the spot of the first county seat, founded in 1841. The cemetery is all that remains of the town. Read the inscriptions at the foot of the marker for the Johnson family and you see the names of six children who died within a short time of each other. Perhaps their deaths were from yellow fever, which ran rampant in the county during the 1860s, killing hundreds. A disease such as yellow fever creates a great appreciation for the benefits of modern medicine. Ten miles across the county is the College Station Cemetery, which incorporates Recter Chapel Ceme- tery where early headstones are written in Czech. It also encircles an early cemetery named Salem where many of the first African-Americans in the community were buried. Visiting Richard Carter Park off Brazoswood Drive and the Earl Rud- der Freeway frontage road offers the opportunity to experience the land where Carter's homesite stood on more than 4,000 acres deeded to him by the Mexican government in 1831. Close your eyes to modern sights and sounds. Let your mind imagine the Carter family's life in their log cabin. You can hear the call of coon dogs hunting for bear in the cane breaks near the Carter homestead as described by Harvey Mitchell in his letter titled "My First, Last and Only Bear Hunt, Christmas Day, 1841." He just as easily could have been hunt- ing wolves, wildcats or cougars that were prevalent in the area and a haz- ard to valued livestock. Listen for the squeal of the well bucket on its pulley as water is drawn or yelps of children playing hide and seek in deep gullies just north of the homestead. This acreage today houses much of College Sta- tion. Another interesting and different way to enjoy the history of the area is to visit Project HOLD, an acronym for Historic Online Library Database at http://HOLD.cxtx.gov. This Inter- net project allows you to enjoy the contents. of old attics, photo albums, letters, interviews and a myriad of memorabilia from earlier days. The database is provided by the city of College Station with the sup- port of its Historic Preservation Committee. Donations and informa- tion are welcomed by Ann Boykin, director of the project. During May, Channel 19 and other area media will highlight Moments in Local History. ' As a community, recognition and appreciation of history leads to the importance of preserving the local heritage. Maintaining areas and buildings from the past allows the use of these assets for economic, edu- cational and heritage tourism pur- poses. They continually feed the vitality of our unique home place. Let's keep and maintain what we have in the way of the past in our own backyard. Enjoy and remember it, especially during May, Historic Preservation Month. ^ Marguerite Anthony is a member of the College Station Historic Preservation Committee.