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Inquiring
at the office of the Fayette County Record for a progress report
on the status of the Burnam’s Ferry Centennial Marker, reporter-at-large
Pancho Howze acknowledged our request by picking up his telephone
and dialing Tom Muras, County Commissioner for southern Fayette County
and a walking encyclopedia of information on the region.
Twenty-five minutes later, we were in Schulenburg
(at an undisclosed location) being guided to a corrugated metal barn.
Once within the building, our blindfold was removed and we saw the
well-traveled marker, lying in meditative anticipation of its rededication
– now scheduled for late summer/ early fall of 2011.
The marker lay on what appeared to be an antique cart similar to those
once used at railroad depots across the country. It was under a plastic
sheet – not unlike a body lying on a cooling board, waiting to be
identified by next of kin. |
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A recent
inscription on the front mentions its relocation, but the old
inscription is hidden from view on the back – waiting for the big
unveiling.
After respectfully photographing the stiff, cold slab of granite,
we were invited to an office where we got to meet Tom Muras, who now
has the additional responsibility of protecting the marker until its
placement.
With his tongue firmly in cheek, he informed us that he doesn’t anticipate
any “trouble” from Colorado County, but just to be safe, he might
request a few guards armed with BB guns.
The rest of the all-too-short visit was spent swapping stories about
the towns of Dubina,
Ammannsville,
and Schulenburg,
and topics ranging from Preservation
to vandalism. He revealed secrets of the famed “Piano
Bridge” and how times are changing in this region that has successfully
(and politely) resisted change for so many decades.
That’s about all that can be said of the marker until the final installment
of this saga – which will be the physical installment of the marker.
Although the marker commemorates the ferry crossing at the nearby
Colorado River, it is being placed alongside FM 155, the connecting
road between Weimar and La
Grange, where it will be seen by hundreds of people weekly. This
is probably a bigger audience than the total of all the people who
have seen the marker at its previous site over all the years it was
there.
July 2011 Update |
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Site
of Burnham's Ferry Texas Centennial Marker
TE Photo, July 2011 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and vintage/historic photos, please contact
us. |
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