DeWitt County Commissioners receive 2024 Annual Report from Historical Commission

DeWitt County Commissioners received the 2024 Annual Report from the DeWitt County Historical Commission at the April 28 meeting.

“I’m required to do this as Chairman of the Historical Commission,” Peggy Ledbetter said. “In my report, we had 50 appointees last year. They are very active volunteers.”

There were 4,298 volunteer hours within the Historical Commission.

“In my report, I also presented our accomplishments from last year,” Ledbetter said. “I also presented our budget.”

The Historical Commission gave a shoutout to the Commissioners for their support.

Ledbetter also detailed some projects the Commission is working on.

One of the things that came up was the Historical Commission’s project of publishing the book titled “History of DeWitt County.” It is a book that was translated from the German language and details the history of DeWitt County prior to 1900.

“This project has been going on for three to four years,” Ledbetter said. “We gave this book to every museum in the county. We also gave the book to the Chamber of Commerce. We are not selling the books ourselves, we have covered the cost of publishing. We also had a wonderful reception with the person who translated the book. Many people wanted a signed copy. You can get this book at the museums in DeWitt County. That includes Yoakum, Cuero, and Yorktown.”

Another project included the Historical Commission partnering with the Daughters of the American Revolution.

“Another project we do is that we maintain the cemeteries,” Ledbetter said. “That has become a really big interest of citizens.”

DeWitt County Commissioners also discussed the state of the burn ban in DeWitt County. They have decided to rescind the burn ban.

There have been some improvements on rain since the burn ban was instated. The KeetchByram Drought Index showed that the average of drought for the county is at 386. The highest index is at 580. The threshold to impose a burn ban in the county is 550.

In other business:

• Commissioners received a tobacco settlement in the amount of $12,670.96.

• A permit application for three pipelines from Burlington Oil and Gas Company LP was approved. This will be crossing Schendel Road in Precinct 3.

• It was reported the windows at the courthouse are being worked on and replaced.