Historical Marker Dedication and Oral History


Foundation of the Estelle School and Masonic Lodge
at the Estelle Community
Photo by A. Blythe, 2008

Friday, June 22


Today was a special event, which was a Historical Marker Dedication at the Estelle Community, which is one of the early communities of the area, and the Harrington Cemetery, that is located within the Estelle Community.  The City of Irving annexed the Estelle area in 1968 and the land belongs to the Irving Independent School District.  The Dedication was at 10:00am therefore Kevin, Chris and I left the archives at about 9:30am to arrive at the site.  Once we arrived, we helped put out chairs, covered the historical markers with black fabric so they could be uncovered once they were dedicated.    I asked what had happened to the original historical markers, in which Kevin replied that they had been vandalized.  It took several years to get the new historical makers created and hence the dedication of them.

There were several important people who attended the dedication,  the president of the Irving Heritage Society, the Mayor of the City of Irving,  the President of the Irving Independent School District Board of Trustees, Free Masons from various surrounding lodges, Estelle descendents and the Harrington family.  There was newspaper staff, television staff and others that recorded the event, interviewed various individuals and documented the event for historical value.  The Estelle Community Historical Marker was dedicated first, then everyone walked over to the Harrington Cemetery Historical Marker for its dedication.  One of the most interesting aspect of the historical site was the foundation of the Estelle School and Masonic Lodge that was a two story building.  One could see the two rooms of the building of the foundation.  Kevin explained that the finding of the building foundation at the site was meaningful because it assisted in marking the location of various buildings of the Estelle Community.

Chris and I helped cleaned up before returning to the Archives while Kevin was interviewed and talked with several of the people at the site.  We all returned to the archives where I wrote the Historical Sketch for the Las Colinas Women's  Association finding aid and the Scope and Content.  I let Kevin read over both and he told me something very interesting.  The Las Colinas Women's Association is still in existence and I wanted to mention that fact in the Historical Sketch.  Kevin told me to put the present year after the sentence that the association was still in existence for future reference.  If I had put in the Historical Sketch that the association has been in existence for the last three decades then the finding aid would be dated and have to be updated at a later time.  I had not thought of that and took Kevin's suggestion of putting the present year.

Later on that day, I continued working on the Oral History project transcribing the interview of Mary Morton that i had started the previous day.  I worked on the Oral History project until the end of the day.

        
       View from the Estelle Community
     Historical Marker toward the
Harrington Cementary
Photo by A. Blythe, 2018.

  
Estelle Community Historical
Marker
Photo by A. Blythe, 2018
Harrington Cemetery
Historical Marker
Photo by A. Blythe, 2018



















Estelle Community descendants
Photo by A. Blythe, 2018

Harrington Family
Photo by A. Blythe, 2018.
Program for the 
Historical Marker Dedication
Photo by A. Blythe, 2018

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