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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Proud residents of Shelby County are gathering in |
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Austin on March 27, 2007, to celebrate Shelby County Day at the |
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State Capitol; and |
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WHEREAS, This East Texas region of deep forest and rich |
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bottomlands has been inhabited for thousands of years; the Caddo |
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tribe were the earliest recorded inhabitants, and John Latham, who |
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came in 1818, was the first Anglo settler; and |
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WHEREAS, While still under Mexican rule, the region was |
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organized as Tenehaw Municipality, with Nashville as the largest |
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town; several founding fathers of Texas came from the town, |
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including two signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence, |
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Sidney O. Pennington and William C. Crawford, and John M. Bradley, a |
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hero of the Texas struggle for independence; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1836 the Republic of Texas established Shelby |
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County, naming it for Isaac Shelby, a hero of the American |
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Revolution, and fixed the county seat as Nashville, renaming it as |
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Shelbyville; an election in 1866 moved the county seat to Center, |
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and when the election results were disputed, Judge R. L. Parker |
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moved the county records from Shelbyville to Center in the dead of |
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night and made the change permanent; and |
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WHEREAS, Once a thriving center for cotton and corn |
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production, Shelby County today is a leader in poultry and egg |
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production and processing, timber, and the manufacturing of wood |
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products; and |
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WHEREAS, Center, the county seat, is home to the Shelby |
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County Museum; its picturesque county courthouse, completed in |
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1885, was designed and built in the style of an Irish castle by |
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architect John Joseph Emmett Gibson, an Irish immigrant; residents |
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and visitors alike enjoy such annual festivals as the What-a-Melon |
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Festival in July and the East Texas Poultry Festival every October; |
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other highly anticipated annual events include the Tenaha |
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Independence Day Celebration, Frontier Days in Timpson every July, |
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and the Shelby County Sheriff's Posse PRCA Rodeo; and |
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WHEREAS, The county also offers many fine opportunities for |
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recreation, including Toledo Bend Reservoir, the fifth largest |
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man-made reservoir in the United States, and part of the vast Sabine |
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National Forest, that covers more than 160,000 acres on the border |
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between Texas and Louisiana; and |
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WHEREAS, This unique and scenic county celebrates its |
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colorful past as it looks forward to a prosperous future; as the |
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Gateway to the Texas Forest Country, Shelby County is one of the |
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treasures of the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize March 27, 2007, as Shelby County Day |
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at the State Capitol and extend to the visiting delegation best |
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wishes for an informative and enjoyable stay in Austin. |
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Christian |
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______________________________ |
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Speaker of the House |
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I certify that H.R. No. 1052 was adopted by the House on March |
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29, 2007, by a non-record vote. |
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______________________________ |
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Chief Clerk of the House |
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