Come join us in downtown Edna at the first annual Flag City Celebration!
Emma New and Chris Zuber are singing now, the domino and cornhole tournaments are starting, the antique cars are parked and polished, and the kids are enjoying the games, hotdogs, popcorn and lemonade.
We'll be here until 9 p.m. Come on out!
Remember, Main Street is closed to traffic between the light at Wells Street and the light at Allen Street, and Ed Linn Street is closed from Twin Rivers Real Estate to behind the HEB Pharmacy for the carnival rides, stage, food trucks, and domino tournament.
We have red or blue logo T-shirts for $15 each (adult sizes small through XXXL); white, royal blue, or black adjustable baseball caps embroidered with the official logo for $20 each; poker cards with the official logo for $10; and dominoes embossed with the official logo for $50.
Payment options include cash and the Cash app.
Edna, Did You Know?
Have you been enjoying the recent historical posts?
These posts wouldn't happen without the help of many others, beginning with Mr. Roy Ortolon, who has amassed a collection of thousands of photographs over the years, along with a wealth of knowledge about our community. Nearly all of the photographs we have posted have been from his collection, which he very graciously has shared with us.
The Texana Museum and the Jackson County Historical Commission have a wide variety of displays, donated items, memoirs, papers, photos, and books to research, including local historian I.T. Taylor's "Calvalcade of Jackson County" and local historian M.C. Shelby's bound collection of memories and articles. Museum director Marty Murray has provided great assistance to locating specific information in the collections.
The Jackson County Memorial Library's local and state collections have books such as I.T. Taylor's "Calvalcade of Jackson County," "Twin Centennial Commemorative History 1882-1982," and "A History of Edna, Texas" by Mildred Rogers 1935 available to patrons. Some may be checked out while others are designated for research in the library only.
We plan to continue to post "Edna, Did You Know" a couple of times a week.
- Photo courtesy of Mr. Roy Ortolon
Edna, Did You Know?
Have you heard that one of Edna’s local business owners also was elected to statewide office as the Texas Railroad Commissioner?
Olin Culberson, co-owner of the Culberson & Woodall dry goods store on Main Street, would be that man.
According to biographical information on the Texas State Historical Association website, Culberson was from Hill County, where he was elected as county clerk and then in 1925, county judge for two terms. While serving as county judge, Culberson and fellow Hill Countian L. Woodall decided to open a dry goods store in Edna in 1926. Woodall and his wife moved first to get the business going and Culberson joined them after the conclusion of his second term.
According to an article in the Jackson County Herald from 1937, Culberson and his family lived in Edna for “several years” after leaving Hill County. His TSHA biography entry states that he moved to Austin in 1932 to for a position with the Texas Railroad Commission “to conduct a rate investigation of the Lone Star Gas Company.” His efforts led to other investigations, which “antagonized certain gas interests” and eventually led to being discharged from the position of chief of the gas utilities division.
That didn’t deter him from running for Railroad Commissioner the following year in 1945, when he beat 18 other candidates on a crowded ballot. It would be the first of four consecutive terms as Texas Railroad Commissioner. He also served for more than 40 years as secretary for the Texas Firemen’s and Texas Fire Marshals’ Association, among other charitable organizations, according to the TSHA.
Culberson died on June 22, 1961 and is buried in Austin in the State Cemetery.
For more information regarding Culberson's career in office, please visit the TSHA website listed below. While we do not have a photo of Culberson, one is available online through the link below from the University of Texas at Arlington's Institutional Repository and Archival Hub.
- Information courtesy of newspaper clippings from the Jackson County Herald and an article on the Texas State Historical Association (https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/culberson-olin-wellborn-nichols)
- Photos courtesy of Mr. Roy Ortolon, the Texana Museum, and University of Texas at Arlington (https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/specialcollections_startelegram1950s/16151/)
Registration begins at 3 p.m. , with practice time from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Play begins at 4 p.m.
In addition, there'll be a Straight Dominos Tournament; antique car show; live entertainment; carnival rides , bounce house, games, and a reptile show for kids; historical displays and trivia; and free hotdogs and popcorn.
Remember, Ed Linn Street will be closed to traffic from Twin Rivers Real Estate to the HEB Pharmacy beginning at 7 a.m. Saturday to allow time for the carnival rides to be unloaded and assembled. Main Street from the light at Wells to the light at Allen will be closed to traffic beginning at 3 p.m.
Come out and enjoy the day with your family, friends, and neighbors in downtown Edna!
Edna, Did You Know?
Have you ever noticed a concrete pillar at one of our intersections, probably about four feet tall, four-sided, and about six inches wide at the base?
Eighty years ago, those would have had street names on them and served as street markers in town.
According to information published in the Jackson County Herald-Tribune in 1953, they were installed beginning in 1946 and were made of reinforced concrete. Although worn away now, the names of the streets were posted on the sides.
According to a January 2018 interview conducted by local historian Roy Ortolon with L.A. Parks, Jr., most, if not all, of the signs were made by a Mr. Keith, who worked for the City of Edna, in his shop behind the old Edna Bakery.
Eventually, metal street signs replaced the concrete pillars, but a few of the original concrete ones are still standing around town.
- Information courtesy of Mr. Roy Ortolon, Linda Parks Budd, and the Jackson County Herald-Tribune
- Photos courtesy of Mr. Roy Ortolon
Remember, it takes place downtown by the Jackson County Courthouse, City Hall, and the Edna Theater.
Main Street will be closed to traffic beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday. Ed Linn Street will be closed earlier, beginning at 7 a.m., because of the time needed to unload and securely set up the kiddie carnival rides.
For more information, please contact City Hall at 361-782-3122.
It may not feel like it now, but Edna has had its share of snow and sleet over the years.
Local historian M.C. Shelby recorded a trio of articles from the Victoria Advocate, dated Dec. 19, 21, and 22, 1924, describing the damage done by an unusually strong winter storm.
According to the articles, a strong cold front blew into the Crossroads region just after midnight on Dec. 19, with rain that shifted to sleet as temperatures fell to between 29-31 degrees by midday. The sleet and temperatures continued to fall, eventually to a depth of three inches of ice, bringing down telephone lines and creating problems for trains.
According to the Dec. 21 article, a Southern Pacific passenger train from Houston derailed behind Westhoff’s Mercantile in downtown Edna when its engine left the rails. The cars remained upright and no one was injured, but the line was closed until the train could be cleared.
The Dec. 22 article also noted that while the amount of winter precipitation was unusual for the area, a strong storm in 1899 had dumped 16 inches of snow in Victoria and surrounding areas. The winters of 1895 and 1911-12 had also been colder than normal.
The biggest concern became the loss of cattle, which had been without feed and water for over 72 hours. The article reported that ranchers were estimating anywhere from 25 to 80 percent losses.
- “Severe Cold Brings Heavy Sleet Here; Ground Snowy White,” Victoria Advocate, Dec. 19, 1924, found in “Fires, Floods, Disasters, Etc., Book 1,” pages 27-28, by M.C. Shelby, located in the Texana Museum.
- “Victoria Isolated from the World by a Remarkable Sleet Storm,” Victoria Advocate, Dec. 21, 1924, found in “Fires, Floods, Disasters, Etc., Book 1 (pages 28-30) and 2 (page 1)” by M.C. Shelby, located in the Texana Museum.
- “Cold Wave Causes Big Cattle Losses; Weather Moderating,” Victoria Advocate, Dec. 22, 1924, found in “Fires, Floods, Disasters, Etc., Book 2,” pages 1-3, by M.C. Shelby, located in the Texana Museum.
- Photos courtesy of Mr. Roy Ortolon, Ann Peterson, and the Texana Museum.
Come on down to downtown Edna. The First Annual Flag City Celebration will be held from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. with something for all ages.
This free event will feature an antique car show, kiddie rides, cornhole, dominoes, historical trivia contest, live entertainment, historical displays, food, and more. Hotdogs and popcorn will be free, with food trucks on hand to sell other items.
Main Street will be closed from the light at Wells Street to the light at Allen Street, and Ed Linn Street will be closed from W. Houston Street by Twin Rivers Real Estate to Elm Street by the HEB Pharmacy.
Questions? Call City Hall at 361-782-3122.
Edna, Did You Know?
Phone lines arrived in Edna in 1901 with Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone, but things were a bit different 125 years ago.
Phone numbers were very short – at first only one to three digits, later adding letters and more numbers as more homes and businesses got phones. Each town had a switchboard operator who received the incoming call and then patched it through to the number by plugging wires into corresponding places on the switchboard.
Charlie Hasdorff was the town’s first telephone operator. Mrs. Grace Hodges later served as the operator around the 1920s, as evidenced by a photograph of her at work. In addition to handling calls, switchboard operators were also responsible in the early years for alerting the town’s firefighters to respond to a fire.
The phone office was in a small frame house on S. Wells Street, just past City Motors. It later moved to a brick building by HEB, across the street from the old jail, now home to the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce.
By the 1940s, enough businesses and residents had telephones that small local phone books were printed. Included here are pictures of the eight-page 1942 Edna telephone book. By 1949-50, the book also contained street addresses.
- “The Cavalcade of Jackson County, Third Edition,” by I.T. Taylor, page 120.
- Photos courtesy of Mr. Roy Ortolon, Spunky Gerjes, and Jean Sky Sloan.
The lineup includes Emma New, Chris Zuber, Adysen Malek, and Greg Morales, beginning at 3 p.m. and running to 9 p.m. Cost is free!
In addition to the music, check out the antique car show, cornhole tournament, domino tournament, kiddie carnival and bounce houses, historical display and trivia, free hotdogs and popcorn, and more. In addition, food trucks will be offering food and beverages for purchase.
Please note that Ed Linn Street from Twin Rivers Real Estate to behind the HEB Pharmacy will be closed to traffic beginning at 7 a.m. Saturday in order for the carnival rides to be unloaded and assembled, and that Main Street from the light at Wells to the light at Allen Street will be closed from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The Flag City Celebration runs from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. June 13.
For more information, contact City Hall at 361-782-3122.
Edna, Did You Know?
In April 1939, city residents voted to make R.A. Drake the Mayor of Edna.
Drake, who had served two terms as a city commissioner, succeeded Fred Meador in office, after three two-year terms by Meador.
O.B. Fenner was elected to fill Drake’s commissioner position, and W.S. McCormick was elected to his fourth straight two-year term as the other city commissioner.
Drake, Fenner, and McCormick would win re-election to their positions in the April 1941 and April 1943 elections, as well. In doing so, McCormick served the City of Edna as a city commissioner for six consecutive terms, from 1933-1945.
- City of Edna Minutes, Feb. 1939-Dec. 1945
- Photo courtesy of the City of Edna
Are cars your thing?
Well, get your motor running, head out on the highway, and look for the antique car show on Main Street, part of the First Annual Flag City Celebration in downtown Edna from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sat., June 13.
While you're talking restoration and admiring the cars and trucks on display, your family and friends can enjoy the domino tournament, cornhole tournament, live music, kiddie carnival and bounce houses, reptile display, historical display and trivia, free hotdogs and popcorn, and more. In addition, food trucks will be offering food and beverages for purchase.
Please note that Ed Linn Street from Twin Rivers Real Estate to the HEB Pharmacy will be closed to traffic beginning at 7 a.m. Saturday in order for the carnival rides to be unloaded and assembled, and that Main Street from the light at Wells to the light at Allen Street will be closed from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
For more information, contact City Hall at 361-782-3122.
