HomeMy WebLinkAboutStatement of Purpose 1996 Statement of Purpose
from
Historic Preservation Committee
College Station, Texas
to
Brazos Heritage Society
The Historic Preservation Committee is one of eleven boards, commissions, and committees
appointed by the College Station City Council. These boards, commissions, and committees exist
so that council decisions may be made from an informed position and in a public forum consistent
with council policy. The Historic Preservation Committee, as its title suggests, aids the council in
collecting and preserving the history of the City of College Station.
The HPC has nine members, currently chaired by Mrs. Joan Lamkin. In addition to the nine
committee members, City Councilman Bill Fox acts as City Council Liaison. There is also a
liaison from the Old Main Society, an officially recognized group of students and faculty from
Texas A &M University. The Old Main Society makes recommendations to the university
administration for the preservation and /or reuse of older buildings on campus.
The HPC is currently structured into five subcommittees. A brief description of each of the
subcommittees should provide some insight into the projects in which the HPC is involved.
HISTORICAL TOURISM -- To promote tourism in the city using historical sites, buildings,
and /or subjects. We need to become more aware of and to promote the idea that, with the
completion of the Bush Library, there will be considerably more tourism traffic in our area. The
city needs to identify additional historical areas of interest, gather and develop historical data
appropriate to each of them, so that they may be described in tour brochures. A brochure was
prepared a few years ago by the Brazos Heritage Society that included homes of historical interest
in College Station.
ORAL HISTORY -- To collect and suitably store historical material from citizens, particularly
older citizens. Any such material should be readily available for review by interested people both
now and in the future. The oral history project has been broken into some fourteen parcels or
"memory lanes" as we have dubbed them. Some of these parcels include the Northgate area,
Southside, Eastgate, Early Campus Residents, Early Public Education, etc. We have already had
recording sessions for the parcels mentioned except for the Early Campus Residents.
RESEARCH -- To determine sites and /or subjects which might qualify for State and /or City
historical markers and to assist in preparing the applications for any such historical marker. A
marker has been placed at the site of the railroad station from which College Station took its
name. Another one has been placed on school district property describing the transition of the
public school from the university campus to its own campus in the community. Another one has
been prepared and will soon be put in place commemorating the trolley that daily transported
university faculty and employees from Bryan to College Station during the early part of the
century. Since College Station is relatively young, so many of the existing structures are not old
enough to qualify for historical markers, particularly State and Federal markers. For the time
being, at least, we can identify sites of historical events and mark those that have had
a significant impact on the development of the community.
PHOTO DOCUMENT -- To establish an organized collection of photo documents. The function
of this subcommittee can be considered two -fold. One is the ongoing collection of old photos
with historical significance. The other is identifying and photographing various sites, as they
appear today, where we know there sill be significant change in the near future. For instance -
George Bush Drive and the site of the Bush Library. Apparently neighborhood or street corner
scenes are unusual -- at least, it is difficult to locate photos of neighborhoods as they appeared
before some major change or development took place. It seems appropriate that the HPC build a
file of neighborhood scenes as they appear today, especially in those areas where the direction of
growth is occurring. There are excellent aerial photographs of the area available from as early os
the late 1920's. It would be appropriate that we have a file of aerial photos taken every five years
or so to have a record of the time and sequence of the overall development of the city and the
surrounding area.
EDUCATION -- To identify and develop a list of College Station resources available for
school /civic organizations. The results of all the efforts of the HPC - collected data for specific
projects, reports, and photographs - must be categorized, indexed, and labeled in a suitable library
and made available under appropriate security for public review. The City of College Station is
currently planning a library within its next building program. It is the desire of the HPC to have
its own archival section included in that new library.
One project of the HPC currently underway consists of plans for constructing a duplicate of the
original (1883) railway depot. A gift from the TAMU graduating class of 1994 has made funds
available for the project. HPC and representatives from the Class of "94 are working with
university officials to select a site for the building. It is the desire of HPC to use the site of the
original depot across Wellborn Road from the West entrance to the university at the Albritton
Tower.
Another very long range project, and probably a very ambitious one, is locating one of the original
trolleys used between Bryan and College Station between 1908 and 1929. The trolley could be
refurbished and displayed at an appropriate site.
Still another current project is defining a historical residential district and building an attactive
entrance to the area. We would also like to install vintage or period street light lights and street
signs in the area. Generally, the historical district would be the oldest off - campus area just south
of the university campus.
It is certainly the desire of the HPC to work closely with the Brazos Heritage Scoiety in locating,
researching, describing, and developing any areas of historical significance in the Brazos area