Burnet County Historical Commission wants to host regional training workshop
Crownover Chapel in Marble Falls is one of 30-plus state historical markers in Burnet County that the Burnet County Historical Commission maintains. The commission also applies for new markers to preserve knowledge of the area’s rich past and its role in state and national history. Staff photo by Jennifer Greenwell
The Burnet County Historical Commission has two grant applications in the works that could bring 100 or more people to Marble Falls in September 2024 for a regional training workshop. The commission hosted a similar Certified Local Government training in Burnet in 2017. That training included workshops on how Historic Resources Surveys can lead to historical designations, the process of listing a property or district on the National Register, and how to improve communications with the Texas Department of Transportation, which is instrumental in obtaining historical markers.
“We had one of the largest trainings anywhere in the state,” said CLG coordinator Lela Goar about the 2017 event. “I think it’s because of our central location in the state.”
The first of the two applications is to the Texas Historical Commission to hold the training in Marble Falls. The second is for county hotel occupancy tax money to rent Lakeside Pavilion at Lakeside Park as the venue for the one-day event. As a nonprofit, the Burnet County Historical Commission receives a discounted rate, Goar said.
Local commission members approved applying for the grants at their September meeting. The application to the state commission was due Monday, Sept. 11. A decision is expected by the end of October.
CLG status, which is bestowed by the Texas Historical Commission, allows local commissions to apply for grants. Goar has been to a number of trainings in Georgetown, Alice, Uvalde, Seguin, Bastrop, and, of course, Burnet.
“The Texas Historical Commission relies on CLGs to help monitor state and nationally designated historic resources in local communities,” Goar said. “CLGs monitor and inform the Texas Historical Commission of changes affecting any county courthouse or designated landmark.”
The state commission recently tasked the county commission with doing an inventory of Burnet County’s historical markers.