Looking back...

10-20-40-100 YEARS AGO

100 YEARS AGO...

A one-day “poultry school” was to be conducted at the Rockdale City Hall on April 28. Teachers would be F.W. Kazmeier and Mayme Hazle, poultry experts and representatives of the Extension Division of the A&M College.

The Reporter contained a two-page display advertising spread of the Wm. Cameron & Co. lumber store. This company became identified with Rockdale in the fall of 1919 by purchase of the old-established Lockwood lumber business.

The commissioner court authorized the offering of a reward of $100 for the capture and conviction of person or persons damaging dipping vats in the county.

FORTY YEARS AGO...

Final Census figures compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau showed Rockdale with a population of 5,611, a 20.5 percent increase over the city’s 1970 population of 4,655.

City Councilmen, meeting in a special session at City Hall, approved bids for re-roofing Aycock Center and resurfacing the municipal pool.

Preliminary plans for Rockdale’s new all-weather track— carrying a price tag of $110,000 to $115,000—were approved by school trustees last Wednesday in their regular monthly meeting in the Central Administration Building.

The annual Spring Festival, sponsored by the Rockdale Parent Teachers Organization was set to be held at the elementary school parking lot. There would be a surrey ride, sponge throw and food booths.

TWENTY YEARS AGO... It was spring and Alcoa’s

It was spring and Alcoa’s Rockdale Operations was dealing with a variety of environmental issues on at least three fronts. There was Neighbors for Neighbors seeking to stop the proposed Three Oaks Mine; Alcoa was testifying before the legislature on bills affected by “grandfathered” facilities; and new federal guidelines would require Alcoa to report mercury emissions.

Early voting was under way for residents of the Rockdale ISD and the city of Thorndale.

Rockdale’s I&GN Railroad depot, built in 1906 and under restoration by the Rockdale Historical Society, was set to be open during the town’s Dewberry Festival.

First Baptist Church of Rockdale sent nine Bible drillers to state semifinals competition in Galveston. Zach Rolan did well enough to move on to state in May at Fort Worth. TEN YEARS AGO...

TEN YEARS AGO... Rockdale ISD school trustees

Rockdale ISD school trustees delayed part of a plan to open up “for pay” pre-kindergarten slots for 4-year-olds after hearing a day care owner maintain the move would hurt existing businesses. Board members approved changing the existing half-day pre-K program to full-day but delayed the “open enrollment” approach for further study.

“Historic Downtown Rockdale Markers” were presented to the City of Rockdale for the original City Hall building that housed City of Rockdale Police Department (circa 1895) and the Kay Theater (circa 1947), Rockdale Downtown Association president Chris Dyess announced.

The Post Oak Savannah Groundwater Conservation District (POSGCD) okayed 2011 groundwater conservation grants at its monthly board meeting. Grants would go to Tunis Water Supply Corporation (WSC), $321,000; Cade Lakes WSC, $141,000; HDU Services, $179,544; Centerline WSC, $60,000; Cooks Point WSC, $275,000; Brazos Valley Septic, $35,630.

The second annual Ernie Cates Sr. Memorial Big Bird Fun Fly-In was held April 23 at Fair Park. The event was a fundraiser with donations going to M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Hospital, Houston, in memory of Cates.