The Many Roles of The 1895

Over the past 125 years The 1895 City Hall has served as a center for the community in many capacities ...

In addition to city government and municipal functions, the building provided a place for many less obvious and unexpected services.

Circa 1954-1958, a Milam County Health Unit staffed a Public Health Nurse upstairs at the 1895 City Hall. During that time vaccination clinics were held to combat outbreaks of polio and tuberculosis. (Pictured here in April 1955 is Cheryl Hambrick receiving her polio vaccination from Nurse Brown.)

Also of note at that same time period, was a promotion by Police Chief Merryman for a mass inoculation of dogs against rabies by a visiting veterinarian Howard Sturhey of Hearne. Shots were given at the Fire Station downstairs. The fee, which included registration, was only $1.50 and made pet owners compliant with the city ordinance.

In October 1954, Rockdale’s first library began in one room on the 2nd story of the 1895 City Hall. At the time, Milam was one of the 53 of 254 counties in Texas with no public library. The community came together to make this valuable service a reality. The Rockdale Rotary Club collected 1,000 books and $550 to help launch the library. An Open House was held on October 17th with 150 people attending.

In May 1955, the library hired its first full-time librarian, Lee Ida Hairston, and expanded into a second room on the east side of the building. She continued as the librarian long after the new library was constructed in 1963.

In addition to serving as city management & staff offices, the City Hall was the meeting place for many public meetings. Political speeches as well as business & agricultural concerns and advancements were presented in city hall.

Several local groups also met at City Hall. The Lions Club formed in 1926 and met upstairs in the Opera House. As early as 1930, the American Legion Carlyle Post 358 is also noted to have held meetings at City Hall.

The Young Men’s Business League, which became the Chamber of Commerce, was housed in the city hall. Starting in 1919, the Chamber was located in the southwest downstairs office. In 1958, they formed a new charter & officed in the upstairs southeast office.

Pictured here in February 1940, an unknown woman is pictured seated in the upstairs southeast office after the WPA renovation which included plastering of interior walls and new hardwood floors. This antique desk still calls the 1895 home.