Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
Art Is Where You Fnd It, Even In Alleys
by Peggy Cooke - Rockdale Reporter
January 19, 2012
They are mostly gone from Rockdale’s consciousness, the alleys of downtown.
Once they were a part of commerce and a night watchman patrolled them from dusk to dawn
as part of his duties in a Rockdale where most commerce occurred in a four-block area
between Green and Burleson.
Today they are just the spaces between rows of buildings, many empty, some still
thriving.
They’ve changed a lot over the years. Where the “artistic” old freight elevator at
right once stood there’s now a sizeable hole in the 100 block of East Cameron, thanks
to the landmark fire of Dec. 12, 2002.
The proximity of the old city jail (lower right) to the alley between Main and Burleson
provided a few surprises when its only access was an outside door in the mid-20th
Century.
More than one alley pedestrian has been startled to hear his or her name called out and
suddenly be in a conversation, through bars, with an inmate.
In Rockdale’s very early days, alleys served a not-too-glamorous purpose, providing
access to outhouses. That began to change when the first sewers were installed in 1911.
All articles from the Rockdale Reporter are published with the permission of the
Rockdale Reporter.
All credit for this article goes to
Peggy Cooke and the Rockdale Reporter
Rockdale Reporter.
All credit for this article goes to
Peggy Cooke and the Rockdale Reporter
Now it exists only in memories and in this painting by a visiting artist. Rockdale’s first elevator, a hand-drawn - later electric—freight platform, was in the old E. M. Peebles & Son store fronting the alley between Ackerman and Main - a half-block south of West Cameron. The building burned Dec. 11, 2002, in a landmark fire that claimed Arledge Antiques and Ballard Furniture Etc.
Sunrise on virtually intact three-story building whose alley side, between Ackerman and Main on north side of highway, has been preserved almost exactly as it was a century ago. Building once housed doctor and dentists’ offices, Alcoa hiring office, Prewitt Drug Store and The Fabric Shop.
Arched windows were popular in 19th and early 20th Century. Some survive nicely, others have been bricked over.
Above, Rockdale’s jail was free-standing until cells were modernized and incorporated into City Hall over 30 years ago. Only entrance had been alley between Main and Burleson. At left, it wasn’t a jail, just an old alley-side window, in structure ‘old-timers’ will remember as the Pearson Building on Main Street.
Photos by Mike Brown - Rockdale Reporter
.