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Matagorda County Historical Commission

Matagorda County For Kids

 


Matagorda County Calendar


 


Members of the

Matagorda County Historical Commission
PO Box 275
Blessing, Texas 77419-0275

 


Ona Lea Pierce, Chairman

G. W. Franzen, Vice-Chairman          
Eileen Ackerman, Treasurer          Jackie Jecmenek, Secretary
 


BAY CITY
Judith Allen
Floyce Brown
Jerrilyn Capers
Faye Cunningham
Ross Cunningham
Freda Daniel
Anthony Doubek

Bobbie Gaspard
Michael George
Carol Sue Gibbs

Gertrude Hardy
Carol Ann Huitt

Jackie Jecmenek

Donna Johnson

Henrietta Krumholz
Alicia Waters
 


BELL BOTTOM
Israel Armstrong


BLESSING

Eileen Ackerman
Natalie Hansen

Ona Lea Pierce

 


BUCKEYE

Shirley Brown

 


CEDAR LANE

Ray Horton


COLLEGEPORT

G. W. Franzen



MATAGORDA

Alyne Cox
George Deshotels

Joe Faye Deshotels
Kary Havard

Craig Hlavinka
Zia Miller

 


MARKHAM

Deann Griffith

 


PALACIOS

Bonnie Benson
Colleen Claybourn

Edith Gower

Mary Johnston

Margaret Lynn
Vikijane Mosier

 


SUGAR VALLEY

Barbara Smith

 


VAN VLECK

Mike Henderson
David Holubec

 

 


Activities


Drive By History
Join us for a tour of historical markers.
 
City of Matagorda Christ Episcopal Church

St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church

Selkirk Island Matagorda Methodist Church Pilkington Slough Ranch
Battle Island Daily Tribune & Matagorda County Tribune Ashby-Wilson Creek Community
John Duncan Yeamans-Stallard Home Site of Hilliard High School
Dale-Rugeley-Sisk House Hawkins Lake Home Culver Home
Samuel Rhoads Fisher Grimes Cemetery Bay City Post Office (Matagorda County Museum)
Matagorda Cemetery Deming's Bridge Community First Presbyterian Church of Bay City
Benjamin & Esther Randall Wightman Matagorda, C. S. A. Holy Cross Catholic Church
Fisher-Sargent-Gottschalk House Confederate Defenses At The Mouth Of Caney Creek St. Mark's Episcopal Church
Jane McManus Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church St. Francis Catholic Church
Ira Ingram Vine Grove Christian Church Bay City U. S. O. Building- Service Center
Seth Ingram Berean Missionary Baptist Church Cedarvale Cemetery
Matagorda County - 1836-1936 Bay City Methodist Church Old Bay City Bank
Maj. George Morse Collinsworth Bethlehem Christian Church Philip H. Parker VFW Post 2438
Dr.Albert Moses Levy Old Matagorda Post Office Site Of Early Bay City School
Richard Royster Royall St. Peter's Baptist Church D. P. and Louise Moore House
Early Texas Freighting Masonic Lodge # 411 Hensley-Gusman Home
Sinclair David Gervais F. Cornelius House Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church
Old Hawley Cemetery Grove Hill Missionary Baptist Church Midfield Methodist Church
Caney Post Office Old Palacios Hotel (Luther Hotel) Morton-Salyer Home
Matagorda Lodge No. 7 A. F. & A.M. Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church Confederate Monument
Sargent Cemetery Mother Zion Missionary Baptist Church Buckeye
Elliott's Ferry First Baptist Church of Bay City Little Bethel AME Church

 

 


PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES
 


National Register Designations


Blessing
Hotel Blessing
Blessing Masonic Lodge

Bay City
U. S. O. Building
Hensley-Gusman House
Southside Historic District
Bay City Post Office
Holman-Allen House

Matagorda
Matagorda Cemetery

Palacios
R. J. Hill Building

Luther Hotel
Price-Farwell Home

 


Certified Local Government


Historical Marker Dedications

Holy Cross Catholic Church - 2007
Grimes Family Cemetery - 2008
Lukefahr School Community - 2009
Pilkington Slough Ranch - 2009
St. Peter's Catholic Church - 2009
St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church - 2010
Buckeye - 2012
The Luther Hotel - 2012
Blessing Masonic Lodge # 411 A. F. & A. M. - 2012

 

History Appreciation & Preservation

2008 Preservation Awards
2008 Collegeport Centennial Driving Tour
2009 Preservation Awards
2009 History Appreciation
2010 History Appreciation & Preservation
 


Matagorda County
7th Grade Field Trip


O. H. Herman 7th Graders


Historic Texas Cemeteries


Collegeport Cemetery
Grimes Family Cemetery
Matagorda Cemetery
Midfield Cemetery

Hawley Cemetery



Preserve America
County

 

Cemetery Surveys

 

 

Matagorda County Officials

 

County Judge
Nate McDonald
 


COMMISSIONER
PRECINCT 1

Dan Putska
 

COMMISSIONER
PRECINCT 2

Kent Pollard
 

COMMISSIONER
PRECINCT 3

James Gibson
 

COMMISSIONER
PRECINCT 4

David J. Woodson
 


 


Helpful Links
 

La Salle Projects

Matagorda County Certified Local Government

Matagorda County Genealogy

Matagorda County Historical Markers

Preserve America Community
 

 


County Historical Survey Committee
 

Matagorda County Historical Survey Committee


County Judge J. J. Spurgeon appointed 12 persons to the Matagorda County Historical Survey Committee in the fall of 1956. The late Mrs. Arthur Harris, Sr. served as the first chairman.

The purpose of the Committee was to work to familiarize the people of the county with the importance of promoting and preserving history in the County. The Texas State Historical Survey Committee directs the county in its projects.

In 1963, a new survey committee was appointed by the Judge with Mrs. Richard Gusman as chairman. Following Mrs. Gusman's death in April of 1966, Mrs. Howard C. Ham was reappointed to serve again for the 1969-70 year over the 60 other members that Judge Austen H. Furse named to serve on the committee board.

While continuing to function under the leadership of the State committee the MCHSC has been recognized as a valuable assistant to the organization and founding of the other two historical agencies in the county and to the recognition of historical work in the area.


Matagorda County Historical Society
 

The Matagorda County Historical Survey Committee and the Texas State Historical Survey Committee decided in 1959 that there was a need for an organization that would be opened to all interested persons.

As a result, the Matagorda County Historical Society was formed in that year for the purpose of including the citizens of the county in the promotion work being planned by the two historical survey committees.

The late Mrs. Arthur Harris was elected the first president, and Mrs. Lee Hall Pierce of Blessing is now serving as the Society's president.


Matagorda County Historical Museum Association
 

Because of two successful Historical Exhibitions sponsored by the Matagorda County Historical Society, the county historical agencies felt that they needed a historical museum.

The Bay City Council granted the use of the "Old City Hall" at 1824 6th Street for the County Historical Museum. The building interior was re-decorated and adapted for use and the museum was opened in the fall of 1966. Mayor R. C. Gusman was the first Museum Board chairman.


Summary
 

The three historical organizations presently operating in Matagorda County are all working in unison toward one goal--to preserve and promote the history of Matagorda and all the rest of America.

Twenty-one historical medallions and markers have been placed in the County by these three units. In Matagorda, one may find markers at Christ Episcopal Church, Dale-Rugeley-Sisk Home, the Old Post Office, Methodist Church, The Samuel Rhoads Fisher Grave Site, the Jane McManus Dream Colony Site and the Culver Home.

The Daily Tribune, August 22, 1969
 

 

Copyright 2005 - Present by Carol Sue Gibbs
All rights reserved

Created
Feb. 1, 2005
Updated
Jan. 10, 2013
   

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