1913 :: Coming back home to stay

George Colgate, agent for the Sap at Sinton, came up Saturday night and spent Sunday "at home" in Rockdale. George says he is "coming back home to stay" some sweet day. Rockdale Reporter and Messenger, May 01, 1913

You can go home again!

Rockdale Reporter
Thursday, June 1, 2000

You can go home again! 
by Dr. Lucile Estell

My Hometown . . . When I return . . . the main street still is filled with pleasant faces and glad hellos . . . with an atmosphere of calm . . . with time for neighborly concern . . . with joy in sharing another's fortune . . . or heartfelt words to one who mourns. . . . Hometown is more than just a town . . . it is a way of life, a place of peace and quiet . . . and when I return it is as if I have never been gone . . . and in my heart I have not. . . . by Craig E. Sathoff

Some learned person once wrote "you can't go home again." That's a saying I've heard all my life. I'm not sure I agree with it.

Rather, I believe that a desire to return home, go back to your roots is a desire that most of us feel at some time. The feeling intensifies around this time of year as Rockdale, like many other communities all over Texas, approaches its annual homecoming celebration.

I had an occasion this past week to step backward about 50 years to a place which was my home for two years.

As I turned down a familiar street, past familiar structures -- yes, a school was there -- I slipped into the evening of my memory and there once again saw familiar faces, young and enthusiastic, eager to learn.

I saw the smiles of the human landscape, the people who then composed the fabric of my life. I recalled so many names, Robert, Peggy, Juan, Andrea, so many others, and for a few special moments I was there again.

These memories are a part of my life, a part of what makes me who I am, a part of the fabric of my life.

As we approach this homecoming in Rockdale, I hope that you can take the time to go back in your memory and think of the people and events which have made Rockdale great.

• Go down to the old depot and remember the days when it was an active place. Hear the hustle and bustle as the trains come and go.
• Walk north on Main Street from the depot and perhaps you'll see Dr. Barkley walking toward his office.
• You may see the activity of stores opening at Vogel's or Stricker's.
• Look across Cameron Avenue and see what's playing at the Dixie Theatre.
• Move on down Ackerman Street and see (in your memory only) the old Lockett home, residence for many years of Mrs. Sledge who wielded such a powerful influence over so many young people as she taught them piano.
• Look toward Main Street and you will still see standing the garage of Buck Henry, who for so many years epitomized the values which are Rockdale.
  

Think of those many friends who are no longer with us and remember the part they played in weaving the fabric of your life.

If the things that you see, and the emotions that you feel, make you happy, bring these with you to the annual homecoming on the 2nd Sunday in June.

What you bring with you will combine with what others bring and assure that we will have the best homecoming ever.

You can go home again.

1928 :: Downtown Rockdale

The following article was written by Dr. Lucile Estell, and was published in the May 23, 1996 issue of The Rockdale Reporter. Mr. Bland's model was the central focus of the Rockdale historical display which was set up at the Rockdale Homecoming on Sunday, June 13, 1999. At that time, it was intended that the model would find a permanent home in the restored I&GN Depot.

---

Nolan Bland's model
of downtown Rockdale . . .
a trip back in time

Backward, turn backward,
O time in your flight,
Make me a child again, just for tonight!

These words, penned in 1860 by Elizabeth Akers, describe in part the feeling which engulfed me as I crossed the threshold of Nolan J. Bland's workshop to view the model of Rockdale, circa 1928.

The model came to life as I examined sites which were among my first memories growing up in Rockdale in the early 1930's. The feelings were so real that for a fleeting moment I felt that I had been once more at Mr. C.W. Matson's Dixie Theater, followed by ice cream at Mrs. Hill's.

The model of Rockdale is the work of Nolan J. Bland. According to Bland, the idea for such a model had been in his mind for a number of years. After his retirement, he decided to make the model a reality. He began its actual construction more than a decade ago, using as a basis a 1928 map of Rockdale. He laid off the streets first, presenting them in the unpaved condition which existed in 1928.

Construction of buildings came next. Bland used old photographs as well as his own important mental images of Rockdale in this early period. "I remember all of this," he said. "I was born and raised right here," he added, pointing to a site southwest of town. In the beginning, his work was on a scale of one foot to sixteen inches. However, he altered this in some instances in order to make the buildings look more realistic.

As his dream took physical form, Bland enlisted help in identifying buildings and ensuring the accuracy of the model. Part of this assistance came from his wife, Leona Gest Bland. She is a native of the Gay Hill community and strong supporter of the project. A major role in this identification process was played by E.E. "Buck" Henry, who assisted Bland in this important phase.

The first area that Bland constructed was south of the railroad tracks in the booming industrial section of Rockdale. This is the area near the first city water tower, shown on the model.

Featured here are...

• the ice plant
• the cotton oil mill, including garage & scales
• the lumberyard
• Farmer's Union Store & Warehouse
• Blackburn's Electric Gin
• Sinclair Oil
• Gulf Oil
• the swimming pool
• railroad houses
• William Cameron Lumber Yard

and other structures. Also seen on the model is the office of the cotton buyer, a man named Vinton. 


Moving on toward "downtown" Rockdale, one sees both the passenger and freight depot of the IGN Railroad. The town was thriving. Persons looking for a residence, temporary or permanent, might select from...

• the Larue (formerly Wolf) Hotel
• Mrs. Queen's Room & Board
• Wilson's Boarding House
• or the Hale Hotel

Those wanting to eat had a broad choice, including...

• Scheihing's Restaurant
• Carrol Robison's Hamburgers
• Albrecht's Hamburger Shop
• Owl Cafe (Mr. Landis)
• Peveto's Restaurant
• Mrosko's Cafe
• Elite Cafe (Ryan & Vogel)
• Dad Griffith's Cafe

If there was a sweet tooth to be satisfied, there was also a broad choice...

• Bob Reagan's Confectionery*
• Hill's Confectionery* & Book Store
• Stein's Bakery
• Henning Root Beer & Gas Station.

---

*A place where confections, ice cream and cakes are made or sold; a candy shop.

---

Those persons needing or wanting to purchase groceries could go to...

• Cannon's Grocery
• Ray Ead's Grocery
• Noack's Grocery
• Marshall's Meat Market
• Backhaus Brothers Grocery
• R.L. Orr's Meat Market
• H&L Hudson Grocery
• Jim Hamilton's Meat Market

And the model shows stores and services of other varieties. I noted with pleasure Dora Poole's Millinery* (my maternal grandmother), and Estell's Tin Shop (my paternal grandfather).

---

*The business of making, trimming or selling women's hats.

---

There was...

• Ousley's Variety
• Cone's Dry Goods
• Perry & Quebe Drug Store
• Lowenstein's Merchandise
• Pruett's Feed Lot
• Coffield Hardware
• Henne & Meyer Hardware
• Baldridge Brothers Drug Store
• Stricker's
• T.B. Kemp Insurance
• City Panatorium*
• McCawley's Saloon

---

*Have been unable to find a definition for "panatorium", but did find a description of another turn-of-the-century business which describes "The City Panatorium" as a " . . . cleaning and dying establishment. . . . where garments are cleaned, pressed, repaired, and dyed and a specialty is made of dry cleaning...."

---

Rockdale was progressive, with...

• a newspaper, The Rockdale Reporter
• a Masonic Lodge
• Dr. I.P. Sessions
• Dr. T.S. Barkley
• at least one dentist and one lawyer

Rockdale had two banks, Rockdale State Bank and Citizens Bank. There were other amenities...

• B. Regenbrecht, Jeweler
• Moultrie's Blacksmith Shop
• Phillips & Luckey, undertakers
• Gaither Motor Company
• Texas Power & Light
• W.E. White Dry Goods
• Scarborough & Hicks
• Louie Gest Chevrolet
• B. Ashby Gas Station
• Schubert's Shop & Shoe Repair
• Franklin's Filling Station
• Strelsky's Gas Station
• W.P. Henry's Garage

Reflecting on these years and on all the years between, we should remember most of all that this was a town filled with hope and promise and compassion -- a town filled with people, some of whom would remain in this central Texas location and some (such as George Sessions Perry) whose influence would span the world and future generations. The model is a treasure beyond words, a pleasure to view, and perhaps most of all -- a gentle reminder of who we are and from whence we came.

---

Below is the list of buildings on Nolan Bland's model, as prepared by Peggy (Skinner) Wright. At one time, the buildings were numbered to correspond to this list.

1. IGN Railroad Depot (R) Passengers (B) Freight
2. Cannon's Grocery ~ Peveto's Restaurant
3. Mrs. Queen's Room & Board
4. Ousley's Variety Store
5. Cone's Dry Goods
6. Scheihing's Restaurant
7. City Pantatorium (Dry Cleaners)
8. Dad Griffith's Cafe
9. Ray Eads' Grocery
10. Carroll Robison's Hamburger Shop
11. Rockdale State Bank (doctor, dentist, lawyer upstairs)
12. Coffield Hardware
13. Border State Grocery
14. Larue Hotel (Formerly Wolf Hotel)
15. Rockdale Furniture
16. Albrecht's Hamburger Shop
17. Owl Cafe (Mr. Landis)
18. McCawley's Saloon
19. Perry & Quebe Drug Store
20. Loewenstein's Merchandise
21. T.B. Ryan's Shoes
22. Jack Pamplin's Confectionery
23. Mrosko's Cafe
24. Noack's Grocery
25. Marshall's Meat Market
26. Stein's Bakery
27. Backhaus' Brothers Grocery
28. H & L Hudson's Grocery
29. W.P. Henry's Garage
30. Henry Barnhouse Home
31. Colored Barber Shop
32. Moultrie Blacksmith
33. Pruett's Feed Lot & Livery
34. Menn's Monument Works
35. Estelle's Tin Shop ~ Woodmen's Lodge ~ JP Hillyer
36. Preston Perry (vacant lot)
37. Harness Shop
38. Billy Richard's Garage
39. Moses' Livery Stable (rear)
40. T.B. Kemp Insurance
41. Henne & Meyer Hardware
42. Phillips & Luckey Undertakers (upstairs)
43. Furniture Store
44. Dixie Theater (C.W.Matson)
45. Citizen's State Bank ~ Southwestern Bell (upstairs)
47. Elite Cafe (Ryan & Vogel)
48. Strelsky's Gas Station
49. Gaither Motor Co.
50. Texas Power & Light
51. Wilson's Boarding House
52. R.L. Orr's Meat Market
53. W.E. White Dry Goods
54. Baldridge Bros. Drug Store ~ B. Regenbrecht, Jewelers ~ (doctor & dentist offices upstairs) 
55. Arch Holley Barber Shop
56. Hill's Confectionery & Books
57. Scarbrough & Hicks Co.
58. First National Bank
59. Horton's Barber Shop
60. Bob Reagan's Confectionery
61. Dora Poole's Hat & Dress Shop
62. Schubert's Shop & Shoe Repair
63. Jim Hamilton's Meat Market
64. Stricker's Variety Store
65. Rockdale Reporter (downstairs) ~ Masonic Lodge (upstairs)
66. Rockdale Post Office
67. Franklin's Filling Station
68. Louis Gest Chevrolet
69. B. Ashby Gas Station
70. Claude Ashby Pool Hall
71. Moultrie Blacksmith
72. Hale Hotel
73. Rockdale City Jail ~ Backhaus Bros. chicken pens
74. Clyde Rhodes & Tony Allen Machine Shop
75. Will Scheihing Home
76. Sour Lake Machine Shop
77. Grocery Warehouse
78. Wm. Cameron Lumber Yard & Cabinet Shop
79. Farmer's Union Gin
80. Blackburn's Electric Gin
81. Blacksmith Shop
82. Texaco/Gaither Whse.
83. Machine Shop
84. Railroad section houses
85. Henning Root Beer
86. Vinton Cotton Buyer
87. Seed House
88. Stockyards (for shipping cattle)
89. Lumber Yard
90. Warehouse
91. Mine Payroll Office
92. Williams' Grocery
93. Farmer's Union Store & Warehouse
94. Cotton Platform
95. Cotton Sample Room
96. Cotton Bagging and Tie
97. Gulf Oil
98. Cotton Oil Mill Garage
99. Cotton Oil Mill Scales
100. Cotton Oil Mill
101. Ice House
102. Swimming Pool
103. Railroad Houses
104. Railroad Well
105. Railroad Motor Car House
106. Railroad Water Tower
107. Sinclair Oil (Palmer's)
108. City Water Tower (first)
109. SA&AP Railroad
110. Water Fountain ~ middle of street
111. Turner Lumber Yard
112. Crittenden Home
113. Fred Palmer Home
114. Rockdale Bottling Works
115. Leo Harris Store ~ Catchings Barber Shop ~ Henke Dry Goods ~ E.A. Camp Office (upstairs)
116. T. Raymond Dry Goods
117. Perry Building
118. Kestenbaum Garage
119. Maxie's Sweet Shop & Theater

1934 :: 2nd Annual Convention

Rockdale Reporter
Thursday, June 6, 1974


Forty years ago . . . the Rockdale Homecoming Association, which was organized the previous year, was to hold its second annual convention at Fair Park Sunday. 

Mrs. Marion Burck Smith of Austin was president, Mrs. C.M. Sessions of Rockdale was vice president, and Ira Perry of Pipe Creek, Texas, was secretary.