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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-02-08 Historical Preservation Committee Minutes February 8, 2010 CALL TO ORDER Chair, Betty Fuller, called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. The meeting was held at City Hall in the Pre-Council Chamber at 201 North Ector Drive, Euless, Texas. MEMBERS PRESENT Barbara Collier, Helen Payton, Iris Elliott, Susan Ellis, Bill Byers, Doyle Brown, Bill Golden, Tom Stover, Glenn Walker, Helen Lightbody, Mavy Wright, Helen Voss, Faye Stinneford, Doris Brown, Shirley Mercer, Robert Nail, Helen Gleghorn, Weldon Cannon, Joe Cannon, David & Veva Lou Massey, Betty Fuller, Sue Stover,Norma Lively and Don Martin. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS Council Member Leon Hogg Council Member Linda Martin Perry Brockmeyer Bob Collins STAFF PRESENT Ray McDonald, Director of Parks and Community Services Michael Davenport, Recreation Superintendant Ofa "Mary" Faiva-Siale, Projects Coordinator APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mrs. Fuller made the following corrections to the minutes from January's meeting: • Under approval of minutes, second bullet; Whitener is spelled W-h-i-t-e-n-e-r and not W- h-i-t-n-e-r. • Under docent's report; the correct name is Susan Ellis, not Sue Ellis. • Under status of current projects; item#3, first bullet; it should say Seth Thomas clock. • Under status of current projects, item# 6, second bullet; the well is on property that used to belong to Dr. Boyd and not located at Bird's Fort. Glenn Walker made a motion for the minutes to be approved with the corrections. Helen Voss seconded the motion, motion approved. HPC MTG 030810 Page 1 TREASURER'S REPORTS Treasurer Robert Nail reported a balance of$6,357.30. VISITOR'S REPORT 1. Bob Collins plans to set up an interactive website with photographic documentation of outdoor landmarks of the area including Euless. He approached the Committee regarding the possibility of working with them or receiving permission to use some of the Committee's photos, etc. for his project. He would like to link his website to the City's website. He mentioned doing a timeline. It was mentioned that Weldon Cannon has worked up a timeline on Euless and Tom Stover is continuing work on said timeline. Mr. Collins noted that he would not compete with projects the Committee may be working on. Council Member Linda Martin asked if the website would be a community project or a profit making venture. Mr. Collins replied that initially he would not make any money on the project but eventually he will sell advertising space on the site. Mr. Collins was asked if he made contact with Bedford and what was their response to his request. Mr. Collins indicated that he could not make satisfactory contact with Bedford and he had heard they didn't have a historical program like Euless. At the end, Mr. Collins was allowed to hand out his business card to individual members in case anyone was interested in helping him. The Committee was generally not agreeable to Mr. Collins proposition due to confidentiality concerns and other inconclusive possibilities regarding the project. 2. Doyle Brown introduced Perry Brockmeyer as a potential Committee member who is interested in the preservation of history. Mr. Brockmeyer is a resident of Euless. 3. Council Member Linda Martin is running for re-election and would appreciate the members' votes. DOCENT'S REPORT/RECRUITMENT 1. The Bellaire Elementary school tour scheduled for Thursday, February 11, 2010 was brought up for discussion. The Committee agreed to cancel the tour due to inclement weather prediction for that day. 2. Gary Fieldsend, David Brown and Betty Fuller volunteered to docent during open house on Saturday, February 13, 2010. STATUS OF CURRENT PROJECTS 1. Ruth Millican Center (RMC) Sub-committee: • Members of the sub-committee are: Helen Voss, Chairman, Thomas and Sue Stover, Bill Golden, Bill Byers, Leah Bennett, David Massey and Faye Stinneford. • Helen Voss reported that the sub-committee was formed in order to let the City know that the Committee is interested in acquiring RMC as a museum. Mrs. Voss spoke with City Manager, Gary McKamie. It was indicated by Mr. McKamie that there may be a couple HPC MTG 030810 Page 2 of items to consider regarding the idea, one of which is the DFW Writer's group who has been meeting in the building for about twenty years. Bill Byers thought the Writers Club could share use of the building with the Historical Committee. Tom Stover thought it would be against policy to allow one group to use the facility and deny another. Bill Golden suggested using the building strictly for museum purposes and not rentals. Helen Voss thought there may be conflict due to the Club's meeting hours of 6 - 10 p.m. Helen Gleghorn wanted the groups currently meeting at RMC to relocate to Simmons once the new senior center opens. Council Member Linda Martin mentioned that the Citizens Fire Academy and Police Academy have benefited from use of the facility in the past. 2. Display Sub-Committee: • Mavy Wright will get the display signs from staff and place them at Heritage Park in the near future. Mrs. Fuller will wait on Mrs. Wright to work on the project. 3. Calloway Cemetery: A. Calloway Cemetery Board of Trustees • The Board has a meeting later in the day. • Bill Byers and David Massey reported that David Allen and Bill Golden have spent countless hours working on mapping the cemetery and thanked them for their accomplishments. Bill Golden indicated that David Allen did much of the work in mapping the cemetery and was very complimentary of Mr. Allen's work. A thank you note will be sent to Mr. Allen from the Committee. Mr. Golden asked if anyone had old photographs taken at Calloway Cemetery to possibly help in accurately mapping the property. Everyone was asked to forward contacts of people who may have photographs to the Board. Staff will include a notice in the next issue of Euless Today in case the public has photographs the Committee can use. • Mr. Golden also indicated that photos of those buried at the cemetery could be linked to the finished map so that people can click on it and a photo of the deceased would appear. Mr. Golden suggested that photos ought to be ones taken near the time of death. 4. Evolving History: • Tom Stover displayed a commercial map provided by David Allen. Mr. Allen can link minutes from past Council meetings to various locations on the map so that a person can click on the map and see the development of that particular business, location, etc. • It was reported that area universities and colleges do not have programs allowing interns to work on the evolving history project as was previously indicated. Other considerations will have to be made. • Mr. Stover displayed a book about the City of Dallas. He indicated the possibility of working on a similar project for Euless in the future. 5. Photography Sub-Committee: • Mrs. Fuller reminded those on the sub-committee to keep photographing current locations, structures, etc. that will become a part of history in the future. • Photographs of the well near Bayless and Simmons Drive were passed around for the Committee's viewing. Bill Golden and Dr. Cannon provided information to Susan Ellis HPC MTG 030810 Page 3 about the well. Dr. Boyd, a well known physician in the area, owned the property where the well is located around the 1860s. The property was sold to a Jernigan in 1911. Weldon Cannon noted that the Bayless' are generally considered new corners to Euless. The well is crumbling and generally not in good condition. Susan Ellis asked what the Committee's intentions were for the well. A discussion was held, Glenn Walker made a motion to try and restore the well and put a Euless marker on it. Bill Golden seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion approved. 6. Acquisition/Donation: • Helen Gleghorn donated a bowie knife that was found years ago by two of her cousins in the field near Birds Fort. The knife is engraved on one side, 1899 and US on the other side. She thought that perhaps it might have belonged to a railroad worker since they worked near the area. Glenn Walker suggested the possibility that the knife might have been a bayonet and was removed and handmade into a knife. The Committee noted that Mrs. Gleghorn always donates "neat" artifacts to the Museum and expressed their appreciation. • Mrs. Gleghorn also donated a pair of metal, hand shaped, wire, contraptions; they were used to stretch gloves and/or when drying them. Mrs. Gleghorn will complete donation forms for both items for the Committee's files. • Helen Gleghorn is still working on the display for the quilt she previously donated. • A 1933 school photo with Mr. Byers in the front row and Bob Eden standing in the back row was passed around for the Committee's viewing. 7. Historical Marker Projects: • The Euless marker project is approved and ready to be publicized. Staff will advertise the program on the website,Euless Today, etc. • Weldon Cannon expressed concern because the Euless School marker hasn't been delivered to the school. He will follow up with his contact at South Euless Elementary regarding the marker. • Some Committee members are working on a contact list for ex-students of the school. Invitations to the school marker dedication will be mailed to them. 8. Historical Snippet: • Bill Golden read an Arlington Journal article dated 1903. It was titled—"Killing West of Town". The article was about James Morehead shooting and killing D.C. Caldwell as a result of a series of petty differences which had grown worse and worse over the years. It mentioned that a short time back the two men were at court over one man's pig having overturned the other one's slop tub. The article said that the incident showed the kind of petty "differences over which one man lost his life and another, his liberty." MCCORMICK BARN/ OUTDOOR UPDATE HIMES LOG HOUSE UPDATE FULLER HOUSE UPDATE HPC MTG 030810 Page 4 STAFF REPORT 1. RSVP's for the Board and Commission dinner were taken up. 2. The Committee will have its usual tent during Arbor Daze. Members will look into manning the tent at the next meeting. Staff will provide support as required. 3. Staff reported on the up coming Greet the Troops program that the City sponsors every year. Several members thought the program one of the most rewarding program to volunteer for and to be involved with. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT 1. On behalf of the Committee, Mrs. Fuller thanked the City, its staff and City Council for all the support they provide to the Historical Committee. Committee members noted that Bedford doesn't have the Council and staff support that Euless has and they expressed their appreciation. COMMITTEE REPORTS 1. A discussion came up regarding the possible existence of a lake that was either called Alligator Lake or Calloway Lake. Mr. Massey indicated that in the diary of his 16 year old grandmother, she mentioned socializing in a place called Alligator Lake. Bill Golden recollected possibly seeing Alligator Lake mentioned in old newspapers. The possibility of Calloway Lake and Alligator Lake being one in the same was also mentioned. Possible locations of the lakes were mentioned but nothing conclusive was decided about the subject. 2. Weldon Cannon thought that Trinity High School winning three State games is a historical milestone and should be mentioned in the City's timeline. 3. Faye Stinneford mentioned that her husband is running for re-election and would appreciate the member's votes. ADJOURNMENT Glenn Walker made a motion for the meeting to adjourn. Faye Stinneford seconded the motion. Motion approved. The meeting adjourned at 11:48 a.m. Respectfully submitted by Ofa "Mary" Faiva-Siale, Projects Coordinator City of Euless Parks & Community Services HPC MTG 030810 Page 5