Texas Centennial Markers

Sarah Reveley, Ferdinand Lindheimer Chapter DRT, New Braunfels, has embarked on a broad project to identify and preserve the Texas Centennial landmarks throughout the state.  She provides this report: "Most of us are familiar with those big granite markers with the bronze Texas star, but have no idea what a phenomenal project they represent. Back in 1936 the State of Texas decided to hold a Centennial celebration, and like everything else Texas does, it was the biggest and best celebration of a Centennial the world has ever seen. The Exposition was held in Dallas, but the celebration itself involved another exposition in Fort Worth, and statewide celebrations including construction of  9 memorial museums, 5 community centers, 16 restorations of historical structures, 2 park improvements, 20 statues of  important Texans, and over 1,000 historical markers, grave markers, and highway markers. TexasEscapes offered to create a space for the Centennial on their popular site, and I got started photographing, and soon others began to help. Sadly, many of the markers have been vandalized, damaged by weed-eaters and mowers, or discolored by algae. Some have disappeared when a roadway was widened, or made inaccessible by landowners. Others have been forgotten in neglected cemeteries.   Half of the markers have been photographed, and 25% of those have some form of neglect.   When the THC said they had neither the manpower nor the funding to maintain the markers, and few County Historical Commissions have made any efforts to save them, I decided to do something. A grassroots effort, by volunteers brought together via the internet with a mutual interest in Texas history, got underway to locate and photograph all of the markers, and when the DRT became aware of the problem, they volunteered to help state-wide..  A mailing list now spreads the news, and two websites are documenting the Centennial." Read more about it at http://www.texasescapes.com/Centennial/Texas-Centennial.htm - Centennial overall and http://www.picturetrail.com/neglected_tx_centennial