Debra Drescher, State Coordinator of the Texas State Main Street Program, will visit Linden Thursday to assist the City in its effort to get Linden’s new Main Street Program off to a solid start. Accompanying Ms. Drescher will be Sarah Marshall, small business specialist in the Texas Main Street Program.
The public meeting is sponsored by the City of Linden and will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 1 at the Linden Senior Citizen Center.
Ms. Drescher will deliver a PowerPoint presentation on procedures and resources of program participation. The Texas Historical Commission recently named Linden a 2017 Main Street City (one of only two). We join 88 other Main Street cities across the State in the nationally acclaimed program designed to promote downtown revitalization through improved organization, architectural design services, and focused retail promotion.
Headstone of military veteran Willie Pruitt located in Old Macedonia Cemetery.
On Saturday, November 5, over 25 volunteers assisted in the inaugural clean-up of the Old Macedonia Cemetery, located just West of the Linden Cemetery. Volunteers came from as far away as Baton Rouge, LA and Birmingham, AL. Over 20 burial locations were identified. The earliest being 1899 and the last known to be in 1947. The volunteers cut vegetation and years of overgrown vines to clear the burial grave sites. Many unmarked graves were marked. A walking path was cut from the North end of the cemetery, West of the chain link fence, to ease access to the site.
Headstones uncovered by Darrel Barrett, Sam Higdon, and James Penny (left to right) and other members of the volunteer crew at Old Macedonia Cemetery.
It is estimated that there are roughly 50,000 cemeteries in Texas. These range from single, isolated and often unmarked graves to expansive cemeteries spanning hundreds of acres and reaching up to hundreds-of-thousands of burials. Many of these cemeteries, like the Old Macedonia Cemetery, are endangered due to lack of historic context and knowledge of their presence or exact location.
For the success of the Cemetery Clean-Up Day, the Foundation owes a special debt of gratitude to:
The Cass County Probation team (more than 15 workers and essential equipment), led by Joby McDaniels.
Sam Higdon, Linden Heritage Foundation President, for bringing his power equipment and engaging in the more difficult tasks of the day.
James Penny, Linden Cemetery President, for bringing his tractor and bush hog, for the heavier work.
Thomas Northcutt, Sr., Deacon, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church.
Larry Love, Albert Brown, Gary Webster, and Darrell Barrett, members and former members of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church; also members of Linden-Kildare Class of 1973.
Jana Clinkscales Bounds and Sandra Westbrook Scoogs for bringing donuts and water.
Jo Anna Duncan, Front Porch Treasure Studios, for photos.
Sue Morris Lazara, Kay Temple Stephens, and Joe B. Lovelace for their vision and encouragement.
The Linden Heritage Foundation announced efforts to identify, locate, protect, and preserve the Old Macedonia Cemetery will continue with the next Clean-Up Day scheduled for Saturday, February 18, 2017 from 8 am to 1 pm. Those wishing to assist please contact Darrell Barrett @ professorbarrett@msn.com or Sam Higdon @ sam.higdon@lindenheritage.org
The Foundation thanks Mason Darrell Barrett for preparing the description of the work at the Cemetery and Jo Anna Duncan for providing the photographs. Both Mason and Jo Anna are Charter Members of the Linden Heritage Foundation.
Last Saturday (November 5, 2016), over 60 volunteers assisted in an exterior and interior clean-up of the Old Linden Firehouse – a workday that attracted workers from Tucson, AZ to Richmond, VA and several other states. By the time the volunteers were done, the perimeter of the building was free of unwanted debris and vegetation; and many trailer loads of collapsed roofing, old asphalt, roots/stumps, and general trash had been banished from the site. The Firehouse interior was cleared of fallen roof timbers and its walls and floors swept clean. The chain link fencing along the east Firehouse wall was likewise removed, as were many vines tangled into it. Concrete and asphalt rubble was hauled away to either be recycled as City street repair material or placed in dumpsters. Finally, the footings of Linden’s Historic Water Tower, located next to the Firehouse, were exposed to reveal the original concrete pedestals; and measures were taken to prevent water from standing around the metal feet of the tower – thus extending the life of the steel structure.
Photo by Barbara Teachey
The Linden Heritage Foundation announced its intent to restore the 1939 Firehouse in January of 2016. The group has since been raising funds and promoting the project statewide, including a successful application to have the historic building chosen by Preservation Texas for its 2016 Texas’ Most Endangered Places list.
For the success of Clean-Up Day, the Foundation owes a special debt of gratitude to:
The Cass County Probation team (more than 25 workers and essential equipment) led by Joby McDaniels, Cass County Probation Officer.
Bob Swisher, Linden City Administrator, for bringing his personal heavy equipment and consulting with us on several logistical matters.
John Knapp, Linden Heritage Foundation Secretary, for overseeing the trickier tasks of the day.
Sandra Westbrook Skoog, Jeanie O’Rear Stevens, and Jana C. Bounds, Linden Heritage Foundation members, for donuts and serving volunteers.
The Texas Historical Commission recently chose the Linden Heritage Foundation to receive a prestigious grant from the Texas Preservation Trust Fund for a Historic Structure Report – HSR for short. An HSR is a comprehensive study of the building, with professional planning recommendations for appropriate restoration work to be performed. The HSR will ensure two important things: that the restoration plan will follow national preservation standards and that the building’s eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places will be respected and preserved.
The architectural firm leading the planning work, Architexas of Dallas, will soon begin inspecting the Firehouse and preparing the HSR. Meanwhile, Linden Heritage Foundation members have worked hard to prepare the historical component of the HSR, saving significantly on Architexas’ fees.
The Foundation hit a home run last Saturday when the volunteer team fully prepared the site for the arrival of the architectural professionals. Let the planning work begin!
The Texas Historical Commission (THC) has officially designated Linden as a 2017 Texas Main Street City. The announcement came just one day after the Linden Heritage Foundation received notice that the 1939 Linden Firehouse will receive a prestigious Planning Grant from the THC’s Texas Preservation Trust Fund. These two news items significantly elevate Linden’s visibility statewide as a City working to employ its past towards a brighter future for its citizens.
The Texas Main Street Program is a national award-winning revitalization program for historic downtown commercial districts. Every year, the THC selects one to five Texas cities for official Main Street designation. Two were selected to enter the program in 2017 – Linden and Buda.
Starting in January, Linden’s Main Street Program will receive a range of services and technical expertise from the THC – including building facade design work, marketing promotion training, and aids to heritage tourism development. The program’s resources are designed to stimulate private-sector downtown reinvestment, new businesses, and related new job creation. Overall, the Main Street Program places high value on a town’s unique qualities and history in ways that encourage a synergy of new investment, historic preservation, and economic growth.
The Texas Preservation Trust Fund Grant just awarded to the Linden Firehouse will provide funds toward professional architectural planning of a building restoration fully in keeping with national preservation guidelines. Following this approach will enable the Foundation Board to apply in the future for major grant funding to support actual construction work on the Firehouse site.
Our community has work to do in 2017; and these special state resources will amplify the long-term success of local efforts. The Linden Heritage Foundation hopes you will join in this work – either by becoming a member or by renewing your existing membership. The Foundation was formed in September 2015 to encourage the preservation of Linden’s historic structures, archeological sites, objects and customs relating to the heritage and uniqueness of Linden. We are therefore a natural local ally and local partner to the Texas Historical Commission.
As a town, Linden is daily gaining momentum towards true revitalization; and we hope many of you will offer your talents to help claim the future that Linden and its citizens deserve. Please consider serving on a Foundation committee, such as the Firehouse Rescue Committee or the Main Street/Downtown Building Survey Committee that will launch in January 2017. If you have a question or wish to volunteer, send an email to ContactUs@LindenHeritage.org or call 888.334.9284.
The Texas Historical Commission has notified the Linden Heritage Foundation that the 1939 Linden Firehouse was chosen to receive a planning grant from the Texas Preservation Trust Fund. This grant will fund a professional preservation plan called a Historic Structure Report (HSR for short) which is a comprehensive study of the building and the recommended restoration work to be performed to keep the project in conformance with national preservation standards.
The above rendering by Lucas Allen is a preliminary idea of how the Old Firehouse could look after it is restored. At that point, the Foundation will put the building into commercial service of some kind – retail, food service, business office, etc. – allowing the historical building to become a lasting improvement to the face of Linden and a boost to the local economy..
An HSR is led by architectural professionals with preservation credentials. The architectural firm leading the Firehouse HSR will be Architexas of Dallas. The cost of the architectural work to lead the HSR is $11,200. The Foundation has already raised the necessary match funds. Jo Anna Duncan will provide photographic services; and to top off the HSR effort the Foundation’s local research team – Kay Stephens, Gail Dorgan, and Sue Lazara – will provide the required historical documentation.
Last January, the Old Firehouse was officially determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, which was a prerequisite to apply for this particular Texas Preservation Trust Fund grant. This prestigious grant award has very specific eligibility requirements, so only a finite number of Texas properties can qualify to make application. Once the HSR is completed, the Old Firehouse will be allowed to reapply for a larger grant from the same Texas Preservation Trust Fund, toward the actual restoration work.
The award letter from Mark Wolfe, Executive Director of The Texas Historical Commission, is available for viewing as a pdf file at tptf-award-old-linden-firehouse.
Debra Drescher, State Coordinator of the Texas State Main Street Program, will visit Linden Thursday to assist the City in its effort to get Linden’s new Main Street Program off to a solid start. Accompanying Ms. Drescher will be Sarah Marshall, small business specialist in the Texas Main Street Program.
