10-20-40-100 YEARS AGO
100 YEARS AGO....
The Reporter was informed that the Little River bridge between Rockdale and Cameron had been condemned and that the closest way to travel between the two cities was now by way of Tracy.
Thorndale was getting its first oil exploration derrick and timber for the structure had been delivered to the Will Heintze place on the eastern edge of town. A thorough underground probe was promised.
Entrepreneur J. P. Sparks had acquired 3,000 acres of land from railroads surrounding Milano on all sides, was sinking shafts and was preparing to mine and export coal.
An unsigned Reporter essay, not written by Publisher John Esten Cooke, reported a rumor that the Rockdale school had been inspected by a architect the previous year and condemned.
FORTY YEARS AGO....
City of Rockdale voters approved a nearly $1-million water system upgrade, designed to eliminate the city’s red water problem. Two proposals for street repair and paving were rejected by the voters.
An ice storm brought a terrible week on South Milam County roads as troopers were called to 19 accidents with a total of three fatalities.
City officials declared two unsigned handbills, distributed in Rockdale prior to the city water-streets election were termed illegal for lack of a disclaimer line, listing a name and address. One of the circulars supported the projects and one was against.
Charlie Martin’s Milano Eagles overcame an 11-point deficit and defeated Hut-to 58-55 to claim a Class B bidistrict basketball title and advance to regional.
TWENTY YEARS AGO....
The “flu bug” was impacting Rockdale schools, particularly the high school which had recorded as many as 70 absences in one day. That was 14 percent of the campus’s 525 students.
A meeting was called for the county’s emergency responders to deal with glitches in the 9-1-1 response system. During the week Minerva VFD firefighters had to be alerted by telephone to a house fire after being unable to hear the initial alert page.
No surprises in the annual list of Milam County’s top 10 taxpayers. Alcoa was first, followed by Texas Utilities Electric Company.
Janet Havelka’s Lady Tiger basketball team was taking a No. 8 statewide ranking into their Class 3A big district playoff game with Palestine Westwood.
TEN YEARS AGO....
A 14-year-old male juvenile, apprehended for a separate offense, confessed to arson in the burning of a vacant house north of Belton Avenue.
City council members voted to place creation of a Rockdale Municipal Development District (MDD) on the May city election ballot. Funding was to be through an already existing sales tax, if the change was approved by voters.
Bell County opened a new jail and stopped sending its overflow prisoners to the Milam County Jail. Milam officials were searching for a new partnership.
A thunderstorm with winds exceeding 40 miles per hour blew through the area with County Road 241 in the Minerva area the hardest hit. Roofs were blown off, power lines downed and there was a propane leak from a tank which blew over.
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