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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Proud citizens of Edinburg organized a stellar, |
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weeklong celebration in October 2008 to commemorate the 100th |
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anniversary of their town's becoming the county seat of Hidalgo |
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County; and |
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WHEREAS, When the county was organized in 1852, a community |
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situated on the Rio Grande and previously known as La Habitacion was |
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selected as the original county seat; the town later took the name |
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Hidalgo; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1908, in a controversial election, voters chose |
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to move the county seat to the newly established community of |
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Chapin, near the center of the county; the matter was effectively |
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settled in the early morning hours of October 14, 1908, when local |
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political leaders hauled the county records under armed guard from |
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Hidalgo to Chapin; the county commissioners convened in Chapin the |
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following month, and the county seat has remained there ever since; |
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in 1911, the town of Chapin was renamed Edinburg; and |
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WHEREAS, Edinburg's centennial festivities began with a |
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Kickoff Party at the Museum of South Texas History on October 5, |
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2008; subsequent events included a large gathering at the Edinburg |
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Municipal Park, a proclamation reading at the new city hall, a day |
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honoring the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District, a |
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poetry reading and genealogy seminar at the Dustin Michael Sekula |
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Memorial Library, and a ceremony at the former Southern Pacific |
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Railroad Depot re-creating the arrival of the first Southern |
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Pacific train in Edinburg in 1927; and |
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WHEREAS, State Representative Aaron Pena marked the |
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centennial with the planting of a sapling, derived from Austin's |
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historic Treaty Oak, in the County Square, located in downtown |
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Edinburg; the Edinburg representative further participated in the |
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centennial by creating a commemorative poster that featured an |
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artistic rendering of the Edinburg Chamber Depot, together with the |
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memorable phrase "The Edinburg Centennial--One City, One Heritage, |
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One Future"; at the October 10 ceremony at the former Southern |
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Pacific Railroad Depot, Representative Pena presented the Edinburg |
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Chamber of Commerce and the City of Edinburg with a framed map of |
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the original plat of the city; and |
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WHEREAS, The outstanding success of this celebratory week |
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reflected the hard work of many public-spirited individuals, |
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together with the support of the Museum of South Texas History, |
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Sekula Memorial Library, Edinburg Chamber of Commerce, Edinburg |
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Volunteer Fire Department, City of Edinburg, Edinburg Economic |
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Development Corporation, and ECISD, as well as a number of area |
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businesses and organizations; and |
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WHEREAS, The people of Edinburg reside in one of the foremost |
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urban centers in the Texas borderlands, and they have fittingly |
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paid tribute to their achievements over the past 100 years, even as |
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they look forward to the myriad possibilities that lie ahead; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize October 14, 2008, as the centennial of |
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Edinburg's designation as the seat of Hidalgo County and extend to |
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all its citizens sincere best wishes as they prepare to inscribe the |
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next chapters of their notable saga. |