On March 29, 2018 the Sweeny Rotary Club held a small dedication, with Johnny Taylor leading, to dedicate the 1913 cornerstone and etched granite marker now located in front of the high school. In attendance along with Rotary Club members were Johnny and Charlene Finley, Eileen and Bradley Pettigrew, Bill and Nancy Long, James Finley, Dr. Tory Hill (School Superintendent), Brett Miksch (High School Principal) and members of the Sweeny High School Interact Club.
What follows is the story on how this came about.
In late 2014 a small group of people (Basil Shannon, Henry Hanson, Charlene Finley and Bill Long) started gathering historical documents for digital preservation. Not having a place to put the documents they started the website SweenyTexasHistory.com in early 2015.
In mid-2015 Les Pettigrew after having looked at the website and becoming intrigued with the Land History slideshow on the website contacted the group and asks for help in developing a project for the Sons of Confederate Veterans and other Brazoria County groups. The project consisted of putting etched stone markers and interpretative signage at historic places throughout the county and eventually developing and distributing to visitors a map brochure to be called “Brazoria County Historical Trails”.
The groups part of the project was to assist in developing two Sweeny Cemetery stone markers for “The Unknown Soldier” and the “Sweeny Family Plot” as well as help develop signage that would explain Sweeny area history. Their initial understanding was they were to provide Les with history only. That however was not what he was seeking. Les wanted the group to develop the complete interpretative signage, history, text maps and all. Bill researched and acquired software to use in the design of the signage and stone markers and the group eventually developed drafts for the two stone markers and a total of nine interpretative signs for the project. Four for Sweeny that were to be located by the Veterans Memorial, three for East Columbia and two for Bonney.
During this timeframe Charlene had shown Bill and Nancy Long the 1913 cornerstone from S.I.S.D.’s first school building which was in her and husband Johnny’s flowerbed as well as the story behind it. Charlene’s great grandfather Emmit Rimmer was the first president of SISD trustees. The building burned down in 1926 and this cornerstone is the only known artifact from it.
In Charlene Finley’s words how she and Johnny rescued the cornerstone.
I remember seeing the cornerstone at my grandparent's (Ballards) house near the backsteps leaning against the house; it had been upside down at the end of their front walkway before that. My grandmother's father, Emmit Rimmer, was on the school board along with the others that you see named on the cornerstone. After my grandparent's deaths, my uncle moved it over to his house next to his garage. I already had a picture of it taken while it was at grandparents, so one day began to wonder if it was still at my Uncle Joe's house, so I asked the lady who was renting that house, along with her husband and family, if she had seen the cornerstone, and if so, could we come over and get it. She told me that it was in the barn, so Johnny and I went over there and sure enough, there it was on top of a disc, being used for weight. Johnny, with the help of another person was able to lift it to the tailgate of the truck, and when we got home we were able to slide it onto the ground where it is today.
Charlene later explained that when the debris from the burned schoolhouse was being hauled away, Charlie Ballard, who was helping with that, saw the cornerstone on a pile of trash to be taken away, and thought it should be kept, so he took it to his home. Charlene’s grandfather, Charlie Ballard, was also a long time SISD trustee.
Bill later ask Charlene if she and Johnny would be willing to give up the cornerstone if they could convince Les to include it in his project and place it with signage at the vacant lot where the school was built. The Finley’s agreed so they approached Les about including it with the project and with his love of history he eagerly agreed.
Over time, Les suggested we not have signage but tell the history of Sweeny Schools on a stone marker so the group developed a design for a larger stone marker with pictures and text that told Sweeny School Buildings history. Les also told the group the cornerstone project would be separate from the larger county wide project and the Sweeny Rotary Club had committed funds to support the project. When Les suggested to tell history on a stone marker the concept grew in size and scope however the location remained the same.
Following the death of Les, the group not being a nonprofit organization and therefore not able to accept donations, began exploring options on how to move the cornerstone project forward. At first Bill and Nancy Long met with school superintendent Randy Miksch seeking approval, input and advice on a path forward. Mr. Miksch was shown the design of the larger concept and suggested we visit with the Sweeny Rotary Club. He also pointed out that the original school building property might be sold sometime in the future and suggested we consider another site. Taking this into account, touring current facilities looking for another location and having done research on Sweeny Schools, the group realized that S.I.S.D. has from the very beginning in 1913 provided the very best facilities for our students so they developed another concept that would honor, in a small way, S.I.S.D. and the community for their commitment to providing the best facilities for our students through the years, dedicate the cornerstone and would fit anywhere within the school properties.
Bill presented the alternate concept to the Sweeny Rotary Club asking if they would be willing to take over the project explaining the SweenyTexasHistory group could not accept the funding they had previously committed to Les. They graciously agreed and working with the school choose the front of the high school as the location to install the cornerstone and etched marker where it now stands for the entire community to enjoy.
The commitment to our community from Charlene and Johnny Finley for not only rescuing the cornerstone but their willingness to share it with others, from Les Pettigrew for his love of all history but most especially Sweeny’s, from the Sweeny Rotary Club for their generosity in supporting the project and from SISD for supporting the project and allowing it to be placed in such a prominent place is commended.
First SISD School Building construction began 1913, opened 1914 | Burned January 1926 |
Etching Design |
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