100 YEARS AGO....
Plans to build a new Rock-dale school hit a major snag when the Texas Attorney General ruled $75,000 in bonds approved by voters could not be sold. The opening of school in Rock-dale was moved forward from Sept. 22 to Sept. 8 “of course in the old building as heretofore,” The Reporter reported.
One of the largest land transactions in Milam County in years was completed as the 1,300-acre Lensing Farm—on the forks of the San Gabriel and Little Rivers—was sold for $144,000 to an Austin group.
John Kestenbaum returned to Rockdale to reopen his Apple Store, selling “California fruit” below the E. A. Camp Law Office on North Main.
A mistrial was declared in the lawsuit of a Rock-dale man against the International & Great Northern Railroad. Charlie Golman said an arm had to be amputated after he fell beside an I&GN train in March, 1917.
FORTY YEARS AGO....
The Branchville community in northeastern Milam County was named as one of the sites under consideration by Brazos Electric Co-Op for a new lignite-fired electric plant.
Enrollment in the Rock-dale ISD continued to grow with 1,924 students, including 619 at Rockdale High School.
What was classified as a non-producing oil well received a second life near Milano. A reworking of the well turned it into a producer of natural gas and gas distillate (sometimes known as “wet gas.”)
The 1979 edition of Fred Johnson’s Rockdale Tiger football team had only two players on the roster who tipped the scales at over 200 pounds.
TWENTY YEARS AGO....
School districts, and football fans, reacted to an appellate court’s decision that led school districts to drop the traditional pre-game prayer at football games.
A ruling of accidental drowning was anticipated after a 69-year-old Rock-dale man drove his car into a stock tank one-half mile east of the city limits off US 79.
The new Milam County budget included money for both Rockdale and Cameron EMS personnel to continue operating emergency ambulance services.
Rockdale and Marlin, who met in a 1998 area football game, won by the Tigers, didn’t have to wait that long for a rematch. The Bulldogs were coming to Tiger Field for the 1999 season opener.
TEN YEARS AGO....
Luminant’s Sandow 5 Power Plant did not go online by the Aug. 31 deadline specified by an Austin federal district judge, but Luminant officials were hoping an earlier test run as satisfied at least part of the judge’s decree.
Rockdale ISD officials were pleading with the Texas Dept. of Transportation to install a stop light at the intersection of US 79 and the new Rockdale Intermediate School.
A 52-year-old Rockdale woman was in stable condition in a Temple hospital after she was run down by a hit-and-run driver in the 500 block of Scarbrough.
Rockdale rolled up 400 yards total offense, almost equally divided between rushing and passing, in a convincing 42-20 season-opening victory on the road in Llano.
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