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Many people may not be familiar with the origins and original purposes of our Heritage Association. The roots of HASM began when the concerns for the environment and mankind’s abuse of our common home, the Earth came to become a prominent concern in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The abuse had gotten so bad that rivers, polluted from industrial waste, began to periodically burst into flames (Cayohoga River in Cleveland, 1969). Women, innately understanding the importance of caring for our environment, began to take the lead in garnering attention to our polluted country. The “silk stocking set” (educated women with sufficient time and means, at the time primarily Republican) became strange bedfellows with the hippies to push for radical change, and they were tremendously successful. Landmark laws, passed during the most environmentally- friendly presidency yet, the Nixon Administration, ushered in a paradigm shift: the Clean Air Act (1970), Clean Water Act (1972), creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, 1970), Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972) and last, but not least, the Endangered Species Act (1973).
During these heady times, women in San Marcos began to take action to care for their local environment. A group in the Spring Lake Garden Club saw the potential to restore and protect the natural beauty of San Marcos as the nation geared up for the bicentennial celebration. In 1972, Francis Stovall and Virginia Hightower called Mayor Luciano Flores requesting that he appoint a Bicentennial Commission, which consisted of Tula Townsend Wyatt, Mrs. Edward Buckner, Mrs. Edward Cape. The Commission subsequently formed a steering committee composed of Mrs. Florine Othman, Mrs. George Martindale, Mrs. Eleanor Crook, Mrs. Bonnie Longcope, Mrs. Malcolm Sherrill, Gene Phillips, Mrs. William S. Moore, Mrs. Irvin Rylander, Mrs. George Gilbert, Ellis Thomas, Jeff Kester, Mrs. Herbert Yarbrough, Francis Stovall, Mrs. H.S. Thompson and Mrs. Jim Cauthorn. The goal was to become a Bicentennial city, which required that the group give a permanent gift to the city by 1976. It was suggested that the projects be linked to environmental concern or civic improvement.
At the time “environmentalism” and caring for our Earth was not discussed in these terms, but the synonym used for these concepts was “beautification.” It is important to understand the radical changes occurring at the time, and the “beautification” that these ladies were undertaking was not in making different flower arrangements. These women were out to help everyone appreciate the beauty of nature and the importance of protecting the nature around us, in this case, the San Marcos River. Their goal was to restore and protect.
These ladies embarked on an ambitious plan to finance and build a river walk, which was realized by 1976. Women of San Marcos also formed the San Marcos River Beautification Corporation, and they had their eye on the Charles S. Cock House, built in 1867, which had become a derelict piece of real estate when its restoration became a goal of the ladies in 1972. Under their impetus, funding came quickly: in 1973 they succeeded in placing the Cock House on the National Register, the Texas Historical Commission awarded $15,000, the city of San Marcos matched the grant and Ms. Stovall wrote a grant to the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission in Washington to obtain a $5,000 grant for the furnishings.
The restored house was used throughout 1976 for the bicentennial celebrations, of course, not far from the river, and at that time the Cottage Kitchen luncheons began. The house was furnished with money raised by the “Bicentennial Belles” (a group of about 30 dedicated women), which became the nucleus for the Heritage Association founded in 1975 to carry on the work of the Bicentennial Commission, absorbing the assets of the River Corporation that was disbanded in 1976.
The Bicentennial Commission also initiated the Music Along the River Festival, a first in 1973, with concerts, art for sale by SWTSU faculty and students and a contest among high school artists depicting beauty along the river. The Bicentennial Commission and Heritage Association can be credited as the first groups to bring recognition of our natural heritage, the San Marcos River, and the need to protect and enhance this part of our Earth. “Beautification” also included cleaning up the river and limiting pollution of the river. Other people began to recognize the importance of our river, but it was not until 1985 that the San Marcos River Foundation was formed.
One of 12 Bicentennial Cities in Texas, the San Marcos group was recognized as being the most active, receiving an award from the Beautify Texas Council for their work to “beautify” (read as restore and protect) the San Marcos River as early as 1973.
