Editorial: Use history to take our city forward

If you have any doubt that great things can happen in Clarendon, just look around this week.

In addition to the continuing work on the Mulkey Theatre, construction has gotten a quick start on a new business on US 287 – Family Dollar – that represents a $750,000 investment in our community, a new fitness center is getting closer to reality, and another new business is taking shape south of Every Nook & Cranny downtown.

Clarendon is a place of promise and opportunity, and this column continues the look forward that we began two weeks ago. Our focus this week is on our heritage, and the point that our history can be an important element of our future.

There is no better example of tapping into our rich heritage than the annual Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff, which brings people flocking to our town each September. It is hosted by the Saints’ Roost Museum, the board of which knows full well the value of history, and it does an excellent job of promoting a local gem – the museum – while celebrating a local legend – Col. Goodnight.

Another big draw is the 1890 Donley County Courthouse that was restored in 2003 at a cost of $4.2 million (most of which was state money). There were some critics at the time, but now the courthouse is perhaps our community’s most treasured landmark, attracting visitors from far and near on a weekly basis. We are home to the Jewel of the Plains – the Panhandle’s oldest operating courthouse – and we are proud of it.

Heritage tourism is a big business. There are many people out there that like to tour old courthouses and museums and learn more about our regional, state, and national history. Recent survey information from the Texas Historical Commission states that tourists who visit historical sites spend an average of $340 more in a community than other visitors.

We have a lot to offer these travelers now, but that is one asset that could easily be expanded. I like to call it the “low hanging fruit.” It is right there for easy pickings if we just use a bit of creativity.

Very easily we could develop self-guided – or guided – tours of historic landmarks throughout Clarendon. A simple brochure could walk visitors to our historic buildings and businesses and take them to some of the Texas Panhandle’s most historic churches and homes.

But with a little coordination, that could even be a bigger draw. Perhaps a combined effort could be joined between the county, the county historical commission, and the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation to research and apply for one historical marker every year for the next few years. We have many “firsts” or “oldest” that aren’t properly recognized right now. The area’s oldest African American church (St. Stephen’s Baptist) and the first Masonic lodge in the Panhandle come to mind right away. Clarendon College deserves its own marker, and there are other historic sites, buildings, and homes that might qualify under the right circumstances. The rock walls at City Park and around Broncho Stadium are also unique to our community.

The city, county, and other entities could be persuaded to develop tax abatements favorable to historic preservation or efforts to restore historic structures. There are at least three buildings on Kearney Street that were built in the 1890s. What treasures those might make! Turn of the century homes are dotted all across our city, and wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could encourage restoring these places the way the late Zell SoRelle did the S.W. Lowe house back in the 1980s?

We might consider creation of a designated historic district and offer incentives to invest in those properties or perhaps there are other ways to capitalize on the structures that our forefathers built.

We can also do more to tap our local history and expand our museum to tell a broader story of Donley County beyond just the cowboy and ranch aspect. Perhaps we could work with the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum and others around the country to develop a paleontology wing to the museum that would feature the three-toed horses, mammoths, and other extinct creatures that have been found here from the Clarendonian Stage of geologic history.

More could be done to feature the Native American heritage of this area. The Quanah Parker Trail is a fine thing to be on and will be a nice addition, but we also need to talk in our museum about the Indian village that once existed near Greenbelt Lake.

And we can’t forget that history doesn’t just stop. It is ongoing, and we need to support our museum in such a manner that it can include the accomplishments of more recent events. Shouldn’t Kenny King be featured in the museum somewhere? What about our native son in Congress?

As the oldest thriving town in the Panhandle, we have no shortage of history, the depths of which we can plumb for our future. Just stop and look around. We’re surrounded by potential and stories that are waiting to be told, and buildings and jewels that are waiting to be polished.

As we resolve to get involved in 2013, let’s make the past part of our future and make some new history to make our kids and grandkids proud.