EDITORIAL
Napoleon, when asked why his invasion of Russia failed so spectacularly, was said to have pointed at a document depicting the vast amount of real estate between Paris and Moscow and said: “You cannot conquer a map.”
You can’t conquer a calendar, either.
Every time the pages flip and the numbers change and a new decade starts, we try to make sense of the previous 10 years and either welcome or fear—more likely, both—the new ones.
See “decade-ender” page 1A.
Theory. Looking back at decades makes us realize how quickly news becomes history, makes us look back over the long haul that is life.
Communities have history that can be broken down into decades. Take Rockdale:
• 1870s—Our town is literally carved out of the prairie by a railroad. We get our first schools and businesses, begin to govern ourselves and develop what historians call a “sense of place.”
• 1880s—Rockdale grows, becomes more than the “place where the railroad ends” and turns into a place where people put down roots. Its two newspapers merge and become The Rockdale Reporter & Messenger. You are still reading it.
• 1890s—Electricity comes to town as Rockdale becomes the trade center for south Milam County farmers. The Populist Party movement takes hold and a Farmers Alliance is formed.
• 1900s—Rockdale hosts gigantic fairs at Fair Park during the summers. At one point the Rockdale Fair is said to be the fourth largest in Texas. Huge fair parades feature those new-fangled automobiles, but Rockdalians still aren’t convinced they are here to stay.
• 1910s—Rockdale goes to war. It affects every facet of life. Because of that, it’s a different town at decade’s end than at the beginning.
• 1920s—An oil boom comes to the area with major fields around Minerva, Tracy and Rockdale itself. The “Roaring 20s” are good, economically, for the area.
• 1930s—And then it all goes away. The Great Depression hits rural America hard. It was a decade when Rockdale just “got by.” But it did.
• 1940s—Rockdale goes to war. Again. Many more did not come back than in the 1910s. At decades end, there are still bodies being returned from overseas. Rockdale would never be the same again.
• 1950s—Alcoa comes to town and Rockdale booms. Aycock High School wins state football and basketball titles. The Saturday Evening Post headlines an article about our community by Rockdale native George Sessions Perry “The Town Where it Rains Money.”
• 1960s—Things change. Rockdale’s school integrates and the town watches in awe on a sultry Sunday night as a man walks on the moon.
• 1970s—Expansion at Sandow’s Power Plant and good economic times as Alcoa runs full tilt on eight potlines much of the decade. Rockdale High School wins a state football title.
• 1980s—More good economic times even after a month-long strike at Alcoa. George Strait kicks the “new” Rockdale Fair into the big time where it has stayed ever since.
• 1990s—Rockdale supports its troops called to the Persian Gulf War with rallies, letters and “Care Packages.” Alcoa’s Rockdale Operations begins showing its age.
• 2000s—The town joins in the shock, horror and anguish over 9-11. Alcoa sues power supplier Luminant, loses big-time, and closes its Rockdale Operations.
• 2010s—Luminant closes. So do Rockdale’s medical facilities. But the area bounces back with new technology looking to the future at the old Alcoa site. Rockdale High School wins its second state football title.
• 2020s—Are blank. For now. But blanks will be filled in and The Reporter will be there to report for you as a new decade of news becomes history.—M.B.
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