The City of Rockdale is celebrating its 150th anniversary with an 11-day Sesquicentennial Celebration honoring its rich past and promising future.
Commencing on July 4 with a drone light show, the festivities will include over two dozen events — almost all of which are free to the public — and will conclude with the Rockdale 150 Birthday Party Gala Dinner & Dance on July 13 and a Picnic in the Park & 2024 Time Capsule Ceremony on July 14.
On day 2 of the festivities, attendees will witness the unearthing of a time capsule buried in 1974. These artifacts will be displayed at the local civic center, and a new time capsule will be buried to open in 2074, continuing the tradition for future generations.
This celebration has brought the community together, fostering collaboration across various groups. Vision Historic Preservation Foundation is one such organization that has dedicated months of planning to the efforts. As a nonprofit based on “preserving the past and building the future,” Vision Rockdale has worked hand-in-hand with the City of Rockdale since 2022 to plan the highly-anticipated Sesquicentennial Celebration. Curah Beard, treasurer and director for Vision Rockdale, says one of the early steps to the planning efforts began with researching what was done at the city’s Centennial Celebration in 1974.
“We were doing a lot of research about The 1895 in the old newspaper archives, and I ran across some articles from 1974 about the Centennial, and one of our other board members who’s also on the Milan County Historical Commission, Geri Burnett, said, ‘Oh, I was here in ‘74,’” Curah says. “It’s been really nice to get feedback from [long-time residents] on what all was done.”
Vision Historic Preservation Foundation
The involvement of long-time residents has enriched the planning process, blending historical insights with contemporary enthusiasm. However, in the 50 years since the 1974 birthday bash, Rockdale has seen many changes that the city is eager to showcase at the Sesquicentennial.
“One of the things that is really exciting for us is the restoration of our downtown since the Centennial Celebration,” Curah says. “In 1974, neither the Kay Theater nor I&GN Depot had been restored and had been shuttered for a decade, and of course, The 1895 building was actively the city hall and police station, so that wasn’t a downtown asset per se. So we’re really excited to be able to showcase these improvements and accomplishments that have been made in restoring these downtown assets.”
The event has spurred residents of all ages into action, with students across all grades contributing creatively. Over the entire 2023-2024 school year, Chair of Education for the Sesquicentennial Geri Burnett has worked with Rockdale ISD to incorporate creative projects for the event into the K-12 curriculum. As a retired educator of over 30 years, Geri emphasizes the newfound pride among the students as they engage with their hometown’s history.
“Each one of our four campuses is doing artwork that’s going to be displayed at the [Patterson Civic Center] during the week of the Sesquicentennial,” Geri says. “So many of [the students] don’t like history, they’re all about the modern things, but it can be exciting when it pertains to you. So when you have the students going out and talking to their grandparents and people that they know about what happened 50 years ago or 80 years ago, I think that has made them a little bit more proud of the community that they live in.”
Vision Historic Preservation Foundation
Students at Rockdale Junior High School worked on conducting research for places and people in the history of Rockdale for publication; Pre-K through first-grade students were interviewed on what they liked about Rockdale for a special radio feature; at Rockdale High School, the graphic design program worked on event posters and signage and the journalism class spoke with longtime citizens including one 102-year-old Rockdale resident.
The celebration will pay tribute to all corners of the past, not only the past 150 years as an American city but also the history that came before that. Said to be home to over 20 Native American tribes, Rockdale still has deep-rooted cultural ties to the Indigenous people.
“We secured the El Camino Real de los Tejas National Exhibit that we are going to be exhibiting at the library for a whole month starting in mid-June,” City Manager Barbara Holly says.
This exhibit, along with historic essays compiled in part by Rockdale ISD students, will provide a deep dive into the area’s storied past. A six-panel historic mural exhibit will be displayed at Vision Rockdale’s Heritage Celebration at The 1895 which will also highlight Rockdale’s heritage through a multicultural lens. Themes of Indigenous history, musical heritage, and more will be visually represented in the themed mural panels and are linked to historical essays on VisionRockdale.org, offering a rich, diverse narrative of the community’s roots.
“This city basically was started as a railroad town … and lignite coal deposits were discovered in the late 1800s that contributed to the area’s early growth,” says Milam County Historical Commission secretary, Lynn Young. “But the [most] significant event was when ALCOA (Aluminum Company of America) came in 1952, and that’s when the population really grew and brought people in from all over the country.”
When ALCOA left Rockdale in 2008, the economy was greatly impacted, Lynn says. However, with new residential developments currently in motion, the city is now preparing for economic and population growth over the next decade.
“Now we have Bitcoin mining with two different cryptocurrency companies here at the old ALCOA site, and Samsung is building a multi-billion dollar facility practically adjoining this, so that's really changing the community,” Lynn says.
This shift marks a significant evolution from its origins as a railroad and mining town to a hub of technological innovation. Preparing for these changes, Rockdale has been proactive in preserving its unique character.
“We knew growth was coming, so that has kind of been the catalyst to preserve and restore what is unique about us before a developer comes,” Curah says. “A developer would not have known The 1895’s history as the city hall and opera house, and its unlikely they would have sought to honor its original Victorian design.”
Vision Historic Preservation Foundation
“Essentially, we want to respect the past and embrace the future is essentially what we're looking at,” Barbara adds. “We don't want to become a concrete jungle. We want to respect what Rockdale has been for generations and preserve the good part of it for [future generations], so they continue to be proud of their hometown.”
With a bright future ahead, Rockdale’s Sesquicentennial will be a celebration of all accomplishments — past, present and future — and the hurdles the community has overcome to get to where they are today: a thriving community 150 years in the making.
“I love the history and the people of [this community], they've just proven their resilience over and over again,” Lynn says. “We’re really excited that we have these fantastic events, and there's such a variety for all ages and interests to engage the community and see the town and how it's changed and how it’s survived. We appreciate the past, but we're also excited about the future and are looking forward to celebrating that.”
To stay up-to-date on Rockdale’s Sesquicentennial Celebration, follow the event's Facebook page @RockdaleTX150. Visit rockdale150.com for the full 11-day itinerary and event details.
