By ASHLEY INGE
TheFlashToday.com
STEPHENVILLE (July 19, 2018) – The National Register of Historic Places held a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday afternoon, celebrating the recent historic designation for Stephenville’s Downtown District and the Erath Arches.
Preceding the ribbon cutting ceremony was a reception with speaker Doug Svien, mayor of Stephenville, Kenney Weldon, former mayor of Stephenville and July Danley, Executive Director of the Stephenville Chamber of Commerce.
The Erath County Arches is a registered Texas Historic Landmark featuring two mirror-imaged quarried limestone arches, complete with a bronze plaque sketching the life of Major George B. Erath. Erath was a protector of the Texas frontier, the hero of San Jacinto, mayor in the Confederate Army and a member of the Texas Congress and Legislature. Erath County was named in his honor.
According to nps.gov, The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.
Weldon explained the significance of the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“Well, the ribbon cutting is something the Chamber of Commerce does to celebrate a significant event so this unveiling of the Historic District and the Erath Arches being on the national register is the purpose of the ribbon cutting so the chamber puts that on the website and documents it,” Weldon said. “It’s a way to kind’ve preserve the city’s history.”
The plan to add Stephenville Downtown District and the Erath Arches to the National Registry was a long process. The plan was set in motion in late 2014 and the nomination had to go to the State Historic Preservation Commission in Austin and gained their endorsement. Following that, the nomination went to the National Park Service where the commission approved it to be on the National Registry.
“Our district is comparable to the U.S. Capitol being on the National Registries,” Weldon said. “That means that it is designated as a historic place to our nation.”
Weldon was proud of the way the community of Stephenville worked together to get the Stephenville Downtown District and the Erath Arches on the National Register of Historic Places.
“Let’s don’t stop here,” Weldon said during the reception. “As a community, we need to realize that our destiny as a community relies on our ability to work together as a group. We as a community are better together working toward common goals than we are divided and I get a sense in our community that that is really coming together.”
The Erath Arches were actually relocated. Around 1935, Stephenville and Erath County submitted a grant to allow markers to be put in and that’s when the Erath Arches were put up, but they were relocated.
“The reason they’re where they are today is that this spot used to be the western end of town so the downtown district really ended right here and turned into dirt roads,” Weldon explained. “You walked the dirt road to get to the John Tarleton College, so they built Tarleton way out in the country and that’s the reason they put the arches where they are. That’s not the original location, but they moved them there as a way to try signify that and plus it’s Erath Street. George B. Erath is who surveyed Stephenville and laid it out as a community.”
Weldon said getting the Erath Arches on the National Registry is a “historic moment for our community.”
“It’s going to preserve our downtown for all time (but) it’s not only going to preserve. It sets us on a path to be greater and better than we are as we develop together this heartbeat of our community,” Weldon said, ending his speech.
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