The Rockdale Reporter and Messenger (Rockdale, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 24, 1959 Page: 18 of 20
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4c—ROCTDALE (Tm.) HEPOMTH DkmW M. 1*5*
OLD ROCKDALE—
‘eont mu-d rro-n r*a««* 1
Palestine. Texas, to the pwrit,
where Rockdale is now Located. I
and uupcnded conitxucLwn <>f,
this road for several vear« making
Rockdale the Ueminus
Town Sureeyed
The railroad company nought a
trac* of 4'X) acr*-»i of la' d. situated
on both aide* of its road, and sur-
veyed and laid off the town of
Ft* *• kdale. into lots, blocks, krceU
and alleys, dedicated the street*
and alleys to the public, and sold
lots to whomsoever was iiiierritra
m purchasing and whrn tne first
trains began to arrive, they
brought many new-co*r.« n who
tame to iorate biAiricvi*^ aivt
town The first business house*
were built of wood, and 1 am
reliably informed, that some of the
new-comers, sold goods from len'-s,
until their wooden store buildings
could be constructed
Energetic Businassmen
These wooden and temporary
business buildings, were »ocm re-
placed with more substantial
brick buildings, and before the
first boom was over, there were
man v brick building* on Cameron
and Main street*, all of which
were occupied by thrifty, energetic
Rockdale had a metrr/politar*
ixrpulation consisting of Ameri-
ram, German*. English Irlsi arid
1 sreahtr - and some of ail these
home* in Rockdale »rsl to get
i mpioyment in construction work,
and other necessary job*
I am not « »r»- u to now Roe * -
dale acquired it* name, but J have
been told by older setleri that
Rockdale took its name from a
small rocky prairie just north of
th« town, which was then known
as Rock Prairie.
After the coming of the railroad.
Rockdale was soon a thriving
nation aliUees were engaged in
business We had dry rood
storey, old faabioned • saloons,
ivery ’able-,, lumber art* r«
tauranU, drug scores and black-
smith shops For rr.anv years
Roc kdale had rio wiOi system. no
-ewer system, no electric lights,
or fans, no telephone t, no picture
shows, no radio*’, no honky tonks,
no football, no improved slrt'di
The busmen buildings wer <
IF COMPANY COMES
FOR CHRISTMAS
and you r® short on sleeping room, bring
them out to us lor comfortable accomoda-
tions.
RAINBOW
COURTS
915 E. Cameron HI 6-2361
equipped with wooden sidewalk*
| protected by a wrung i supported
I on wooden puats, wer*- LgT.tcfl
i with kerosene tamps, and sup-
I piled with water from under-
I ground cisterns the water supply
I being also furnished by public
: wells, one well in Ackerman
I street, near tne weith side of Bell
I street, and one well in Mam
■ treet, near the south line of Beil
street
These wells were equipped with
pulleys, ropes arid buckets, and
were for the use of the general
public
Swmginq F «ns
There
vaiiabU
and
no screen
hence there
wir**
were
I no screen cb/or* or window* in
the business houses, or in the
I homes In the warm part of the
I year, the restaurants were equip
j ped with s winging fans, operated
by pulling a rope, and each res-
taurant had a lazy ated in the
r,k i»f the building, v ho pulled
r: rope »nd < d toe fan . **
pass over the dinning tables and
drive the house flies away from
the food, wiule customers ate
Ail businrv house* and dwel-
ling* wire heated with wood fire-
I plan *, or wood xtz/vt**, and all I
c'Hiking was don* ort wood stoves, j
Livestock wa* permitted to run I
a! large iri the town, arid all of the
homes were enclosed with sub-
stantial yard-fence-., u* keep live-
stock off the yard and porches*—
mar.v an old cow obtained her
living b.\ robbing farm* i wagor.-,
of the feed they brought along for
their teams and of groccri* plac-
id in their wagon* to tak»- home.
Wide Trade Area
During Its early history, and
* ven after the railroad extended
its line *outhw<«it to Taylor,
Rockdale had a wide and exten-
*1 < trade territor I irg* r ir ,.r»
the whole state of Connecticut
Manv people came b< Rockdale, to
market their products, buy their
merchandise, and to s*•«*, for the
first time, a railroad tram
Incidentally some of these
country people had a vague idea
about the construction of a ra.I-
road arid >h< operation, of train*
thereon To illustrate, I tel! you a
story, as told to mi by an old
Ro* kdalian He -aid a man, with
hi* wife and children, none ot
whom had ever seen a railroad
train, lived in a remote part of
the tia.de territorv, and came to
town with his family in a two-
horse wagon, for the purpose of
seeing a railroad train
They stopped their wagon in a
grove of tr<*« near the p . < ng* r
depot., which then M**sl near 1he
C’off11*Id J<* f’lant. ar>d after fast
enlng their team, walked to the
passenger depot and waited for a
train to come After a short wait,
a long freight train came in, pass
cd tin* passenger depot, to the
freight depot located further we-1
After the train had passed and
♦ he noise had subsided, the wife
and children b»od thrilled and
ama/ed at tin- sight of :h** great
iron horse, traveling at a higii
tan ,( peed *rid pulling a string
of box-cars, each of which were
as large as country dwelling
houses, but the father Izecarne
nervous and afraid, rushed to his
wife and said, “Get the children
and let s go
The wife ‘■aid. “l,et’* stav
awhile, until another one come "
and the father aid, “No, let’s go.
let’s get away from here, one of
tin m trains might come through
heir tideways and kill all of us.”
Public School*
Early in its history, Rockdale
established public schools within
it limits, provided comfortable
buildings, and the lab ■ t equip-
ment of that day. for use of tin. »
school. PocVdaV wl.ooR were larged the tpillway under Its
■ rf'.ncd r>v mteres‘ed efficient ! dump. and we .save not since had
and able teacher?. ' •> "md^ctert
the ■' hooi It if a m to 4 p r
* on all week-days during the term,
I except Saturday* and legal noli-
j day*
The** *rbools were »upported
t.y a i’afe appropriation of 13 to
! |4 per < a pita per annum, and
from a local tax The pupil* fur-
I nished their own books and
I lunrhc- and walked to and from
»< hool on unimproved sidewalks
. and street*
Many children were born in
I Rch kdale. in theca* days, received
their early education in Rockdale
.* u<x>\ and became accomplished,
efficient useful, and ou standing
men and women
Disasters. Calamities
Rcakda!* had its dr asters and
I calamities along with its progress
j In IHHH during a heavy night rain,
! a “mail cabin near ti c* west prong
f of Marn Branch, washed arid float-
| <d down stre ,i and lodged in the
spillway, under the dump of the
[ railroad, and so obgtructed this
I *pill-way, that the waer coulri not
pa. freely enough.
The ra*n eonbnued. .*nd the
water backed over the vaiiev from
S* arbrough treet to the frail of
the hill where the xhool fiuiiding
stood This flc»oded all the re i-
d* n» •-I in that, part of the town,
arid endangered the lives of the
resident* there.
Rc«* kdale hiicl a lawyer citizen,
who had hi home*, and lived in a
grove of large oak trees, a short
distance west of the main channel
of Ham Br inc h, arid on Bell street.
His hornc- was in the flcnid A*
<»*>r a the citizens on higher
ground teamed of this distress,
thov quickly c/rganizecj rescue
partic and in the dense darkness,
hurriedly waded and swam,
thrc>ugii the muddy water* of H>m
Branch, searching for those in
ciistrcM, and a* the rescue party
pa: -ed west along Bell street, tins
lawyer shouted to them from one
(■! his tree top . "Take care of the
women and children, f am safe
All of the 'icl.jrri vere resem-d
that night, and when the wafer
receded, it was found that r had
caused heavy prope ry damage but
no lives were lost.
Soon after this, the cabin wa
removed from tin- spillwav, under
Hi* railroad and shortly after-
wards the railroad company *n-
a ci. dui-juus liuuu we. Ham
Braneb
So me tunes during lix late 7(1’*,
V M .Muldinc of Lexington, ouilt
a ‘nr** tezry bncx hou*i building
in the S £ corner oi biot* No 3,
framing on Main and Milam
street*
Th. . T,oU-1 Aa . weli equipped,
Artt modern for that day, and en-
joyed a large patronage—many of
our citizens lo>Jg<«i in tms hotel,
until they could make permanent
ar range-merits lor homes
Hotel Fir®
About rT dmgnt in July, 1 hHH
while ini-. ra>tei Aas filled with
u-i«- a fir*- nrokc wl and ;n
the absence of adequate water
supply, arid fire-fighting equip-
ment, the building and it* consents
wer*- burned and eleven of the
gu* st_> were burned to dt aih, in
heir rcaziri-v »nd in tiieir beds.
Th; tragi*d> ca*t a glc*om over
ibe town and it* citizens, which
icmained for mcznUi*, and was
proi>abi> ti.e moving cause for the
installaitjor. of an adequate water
; ystem in Rockdale, which tx*gara
to function afzou l 1,2 year* ia-
u r
Tii* old burned building wua
/• ■ ui!t *r,d mad* into a 2-story
hotel, and con.inucd in buimeu
for a number of years, and until a
ccond fir*- practiaily destroyed
the building. afu*r which it was
rernodc i«*d and made into two one-
story business houses
During tin- boom days of Rock-
dale. the tz»wn was incorporated,
had a mayor and a board of alder
men, a town marshall and a city
court, this court was presided
over by trie mayor, and had
jurisdiction of ail violations of th«
city laws, within the city.
Amusing Trials
Many interesting and amusing
trial were had in thus court, and
I rc-call one trial, in particular:
A Missouri livestock trader
came to Rockdale, with a herd
of r« y t*-red Missouri Jack ., with
a vu w *o sell then to tanner* in
the surrounding country.
He quartered his jacks in a
livery stable in town, and began
to canvas- the country lor buy-
er These animals were young,
large, strong and well fed. and
bad a habit of braying long and
loud, at intervals a net particularly
about 4 o’clock in the* morning
Season s Greetings
Bckt Wishes for a holiday season of happiness
and contentment.
II. I). MAWXKIJ,
COUNTY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT
I Rockdale citizens were net
j accustomed to loud and hideous
noises—having no trucks or autos
to rattle over 'be streets, no gaso-
Lne engines to backfire, ar.d no
casing* to blow out, and being
! used to no harsher sounds than the
baying of a distant fox-hound, the
chirp of a whipporwill. and the
crowing of a barnyard rooster, thi*
harsh and hideous braying of the
trader's jacks was very distrubtng
to sleeping residents.
Familias Distrubad
Rockdale, at that time, had two
very fine families of the Jewish
faith, who had their homes very
near to the stable where thq
trader’* jacks were quartered and
fhev and their families were much
disturbed, especially at night, by
! the loud braying of these animals
The head* of these families dis-
i cussed the matter between them-
j selves, and contac ted the trader,
j told him of their grievances, and
tried to persuade him to remove
the jacks from the stable
The trader declined to do this—
saying he had no other suitable
place for his jacks whereupon the
two citizens appealed to the city
court for relief The judge of the
city court agreed to entertain their
complo.nt, and they made a com
plain against the: trader, for dis-
turbing the peace, by the braying
of his jacks.
The case was set down for trial,
and the trader was notified of the
time and place. The trader em-
ployed a Rockdale lawyer, who
j.ad been a Confederate soldier,
and was a typical southern gentle-
man, with a wonderful knowledge
of human nature and human pre-
judjoes
Court Session
At the stated time, all the
parties, with their attorneys and
many spectators, were in atten-
dance at court, a jury was am- (
paneled, and the evidence of both |
parties lntruouceu The v*t » at- J
tomey appealed to the jury to con-
vict the defendant, abate live
nuisance, and force him to remove
his jacks from the stable.
When the city attorney closed
hi* appeal, the attorney for the
trader, made a very short, elo-
quent appeal to the jury', m which
See OLD ROCKDALE, page 6c
wm
15
^deration you ve given us
• in the past year. You’ve y/fi,
'■ been most thoughtful.
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Gvvd Dl&iSiMS
:.............v ^ '• ..............
MARTIN RODENBECK
AND EMPLOYEES
THORNDALE. TEXAS
We extend the sincere
wish that Christmas
and the New Year will
bring genuine peace
and contentment to
each of you.
COFFIELD LUMBER CO.
QUALITY BUILDING AND MATERIALS
ROCKDALE, TEXAS
III llllll
.Ml ut us u: (ruithcr Motor (<o., U(H'kdolc lexnco Ipcnry, (ioither Insurance Agency and Hogan & Company, Inc., take this means
<>l extending iff you and yours our season s greetings. II c wish tft thunk you sincerely for the fine business you have given
us in to u i'll mui a very Merry (Jiristtuns, u Joyous Nnr ) ear. and Health. Happiness, prosperity, and all good
things oI lUc lor the ( inning year.
GAITHER MOTOR COMPANY , ROCKDALE TEXACO AGENCY
GAITHER INSURANCE AGENCY HOGAN & COMPANY, INC.
Dorothy Armstrong
Fred Cruz
Harold Love
Albert Revilla
Guadalupe Valadez
Alton Backhaus
Paul Cruz
Rudy Ortega
Frank Revilla
Paul Voyner
Edward Baca
John A. Dockall
Wilford Owens
Alfred W. Rogers
John Westbrook
Ocie Lee Bishop, Jr.
Anna Mae Ely
Wilma Owens
Roy Ross
Lesser Newton
O. T. Bullock
Albert Everage
James P. Pogue
Sampson Standiford
Frank W. Burroughs
Harvey F. Carver
Frank Flores
Hilliard Reed
G. H. Stork
Foy Arrington
A. C. Coidiron
Archie Graham
Royce Harwell
C. O. Towery
James R. Fuller
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Cooke, W. H. The Rockdale Reporter and Messenger (Rockdale, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 24, 1959, newspaper, December 24, 1959; Rockdale, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth694205/m1/18/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lucy Hill Patterson Memorial Library.