Looking back...

Through The Reporter Files

100 YEARS AGO

It was a glorious day, the Fourth of July, and one never to be forgotten. The American Legion of Rockdale Post No. 358, scored a signal victory with their initial celebration. The day was idea, being just enough sunshine to be pleasant, and enough clouds to form one vast shield from the danger of sunburned necks and faces. Crowds from the distant towns and communities began arriving at an early hour and were entertained at the Flag Pole with a concert by the band, which furnished good music through the entire day. Conservative estimates placed the attendance at from 6,000 to 7,000 people comprising one of the largest crowds visiting Rockdale in many years. Horse races constituted the main attraction of the day, there being two events in the forenoon and one in the afternoon.

Last Thursday morning in the home of Mrs. Ben Loewenstein Jr. was again the scene of a lovely party, when the Tuesday Bridge Club was entertained. Bright daisies were used to advantage throughout the reception rooms. Mrs. J.D. Peeples won high score and was given a set of iced tea glasses. At noon, the following delectable luncheon was served: Fried chicken, toast, hot biscuits, creamed French peas in potato cups, cantaloupe salad, olives and iced tea.

The American Legion has awarded to the City of Rockdale, in appreciation for their courteous favor of the extending to The Legion the use of the Fair Grounds, on various occasions, $100 worth of wire and lumber and $50 worth of labor which was expended in the building back up the racetrack and putting it in shape for the races.

40 YEARS AGO

The Rockdale City Council has ordained paving of Summit Drive over the objections of a property owner who has raised a legal question over the city's assessment paving method. Attorney Kirby C. King, a partner in the Hensley & King law firm, which has an office on the corner of Summit and West Cameron said the amount assessed the first firm for the Summit paving 'was not in accordance with benefi t received.' After receiving legal advice from city attorney Emory Camp, the council ordained paving of Summit and unpaved portions of San Gabriel.

20 YEARS AGO

A demolit ion crew on Friday and Saturday took down Rockdale's old three-story school building which was erected in 1922. It served as a high school until 1956, then as a junior high until 1980 and has been boarded up and decaying since. The demolition went without a hitch, except for canopied walkways which serve the adjacent elementary school and the fifth-grade temporary classrooms on the elementary school campus. Falling debris damaged the canopies but repairs are secured in the contract, according to Arnold Proctor, RISD business manager. Sierra Contracting of Austin has the $124,000 contact for asbestos abatement and demolition. Nine firms originally bid for the work, with bids ranging from Sierra's low offering to a high of $258,000.

10 YEARS AGO

VFW Post 6525, with an assist from American Legion Carlyle Post 358, rededicated a flagpole on the Fourth of July at Rockdale’s Old City Cemetery on Main Street south of the railroad tracks. The cemetery, which dates back to the 1870s and contains graves of Confederate soldiers, was recently the site of a massive cleanup by volunteers and city crews who moved trees and brush and re-set a number of tombstones.