Founders Day at Falls on the Colorado Museum celebrates area’s story
DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
MARBLE FALLS — Whether a person’s family has lived in the area for generations or they just moved here in the past several years, Fran McSpadden of the Falls on the Colorado Museum believes each has a role in local history.
“They’re all a part of our story,” McSpadden said. “They can all be a part of it.”
The museum is holding its annual Founders Day Celebration on July 13 at 2001 Broadway. It’s an open-house, come-and-go-as-you-please format from noon to 5 p.m.
In past years, organizers held the event at Lakeside Pavilion but decided to move it to the museum grounds to give people a peek at the renovations made to the old Granite Building. The structure has served as a cornerstone of Marble Falls since 1891. Since its construction, the Granite Building, as it has come to be known, has played a role in the area’s school system.
Students attended classes in the Granite Building for many decades. Eventually, Marble Falls Independent School District opened new campuses, shifting students to those facilities.
The district continued to use the Granite Building in some manner, including its latest as the central administration office, until about five years ago. But its educational role returned in 2010 when MFISD agreed to lease the structure to the museum.
McSpadden said the Founders Day Celebration will allow museum officials to show off the updates they’ve made to the Granite Building.
But there’s still work to be done, she said.
“We have a wish list of things we still need,” McSpadden said.
One includes getting input and direction from residents in what they’d like to see in the museum or future displays.
“We’d love to have people help us determine the future of the museum,” she said.
Organizers hope the event also will draw former MFISD students who attended classes in the Granite Building.
Visitors can enjoy light refreshments. And as they walk the Granite Building’s halls, they can help develop and add to the community’s story.
For more information, go to www.fallsmuseum.org or call (830) 798-2157.
daniel@thepicayune.com