100 YEARS AGO....
Lawless Green, 20, son of Cameron First National Bank President A. A. Green, died in a plane crash in Cameron. The younger Green was a passenger in a plane operated by a barnstorming pilot who had already taken several Cameron residents up that day. The pilot was expected to recover.
An oil well on the Heintze Place east of Rockdale began spouting a substance identified as liquefied sulfur. Drillers said the rig was crushing the substance and mixing it with the mineral but they remained “very sanguine of success.”
Mayor H. C. Meyer was home after sustaining serious injuries in a South Texas auto accident but was not yet able to resume duties at his Henne & Meyer business.
Coffield & Hale Company was renovating a downtown Rockdale store as we “demonstration parlor” for their Victrola and “talking machine” business. The entrepreneur said they also planned to sell records.
FORTY YEARS AGO....
Milam County was listed as one of 41 potential sites for a $2-billion synthetic fuel plant which was expected to carry 4,000 jobs. (Spoiler alert: It didn’t happen.— Editor).
Shell Oil Company, which was planning a major coal mining operation in the Rockdale area said it might consider selling coal to the synfuel operation, if it located here. (Spoiler alert: Shell didn’t happen either.—Editor).
A 67-year-old Black Jack area farmer was trapped for three hours under a shredder before being freed by his wife, neighbors and an EMS crew. Very fortunately, the shredder was not running but was only being towed by a tractor.
Large crowds were flocking to the city’s new softball complex on Beverly Drive every evening to watch the 13 men’s and five women’s teams complete in league play.
TWENTY YEARS AGO....
Rockdale High School Principal Raymon Puente, who had been serving as president of Milam County CrimeStoppers, was honored by the organization after stepping down as president. He had been Milam CrimeStoppers’ only president.
Rockdale resident Florence Garza Nieto’s “Texas Quilt” was headed to the Texas State Fair in Dallas. It depicted all 254 Texas counties with the eight lived in by Mrs. Nieto outlined in red.
Rockdale’s newest Eagle Scouts were Leroy Cardwell, David Cook, James Cook and Daniel Rains.
The Alcoa Foundation donated $40,000 to help air condition the Rockdale High School gym. The Rockdale Athletic Association was also donating at least $10,000 toward what was expected to be a $100,000 project.
TEN YEARS AGO....
It was a “dash to the finish” to complete the new Rockdale High School campus before classes started Aug. 24. The aftermath of Hurricane Ike had slowed down some needed deliveries.
Little River Healthcare officials were leaning toward expanding and renovating Rockdale’ hospital rather than building a completely new facility, which had previously been discussed.
Rockdale logged its 18th day of 105-or-greater heat, breaking the old record of 17 set in 2009.
About 10 workers remained cleaning pots in the shut-down Alcoa smelter. The facility’s atomizer still remained open for the time being.
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