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By Amanda Rogers
Mansfield Record
Mansfield has kicked off a month of celebrating the city’s history.
The party for Historic Preservation Month gets in high gear Saturday with a car show, guided walking tours, how to care for historic photos event, Man House demonstrations and tours. All events are free and open to the public.
“We’re looking at other options to share our history with residents and visitors,” said Art Wright, Mansfield senior planner and a historic preservation officer with the Texas Historical Commission. “These events are designed to put some fun into it and you still learn something along the way.”
The celebration actually started May 1 with signs posted at historical and significant sites across the city in the “This Place Matters” campaign.
“Each day we put a little history blurb with the history of that place on the website,” Wright said. “Every day one is featured. We started with the Farr Best Theater, Joe’s General Store in Britton, Bethlehem Baptist Church and Oliver Nature Park.”
The campaign will also honor significant sites, like Methodist Mansfield Medical Center, the first modern hospital in the city. The city asks residents and visitors to take a picture with signs and post on social media with the #mansfieldtxplacesmatter and why that site matters to them.
Guided walking tours are set for each Saturday in May, starting with the Crime Tour at 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. this Saturday in downtown Mansfield. The themes and times change each Saturday, including the Lost Mansfield, historic downtown and historic cemetery tours. Tickets are free, but registration is requested. Register here.
Other events include the From the Vault Exhibit at the Mansfield Historical Museum, Chalk the Walk Contest on May 13, Historic Preservation Day Ceremony on May 18 and Mansfield History Hunters on May 20.
“It’s your heritage, you have to know where you came from,” Wright said. “If you don’t know where you came from, it’s just a house. History creates that sense of community. It’s hidden all over town.”
Historic Preservation Month Events:
From the Vault Exhibit: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays at the Mansfield Historical Museum, 102 N. Main St.
Man House Demonstrations: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays at the Man House, 604 W. Broad St.
Historic Downtown Mansfield Car Show: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. May 6 in the City Parking Lot, 108 W. Broad St.
Man House Tours: 10 a.mm.-4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays at the Man House, 604 W. Broad St.
History How To: How to Care for Family Photographs: 1:30 p.m. May 6 at the Mansfield Historical Museum, 102 N. Main St.
Historic Preservation Day Ceremony: 6:30-8:30 p.m. May 18 at Mansfield Historical Museum, 102 N. Main St.
Chalk the Walk Contest: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. May 13 on Main Street
Mansfield History Hunters: 1-4 p.m. May 20 at the Mansfield Historical Museum, 102 N. Main St.
Historic Preservation Poster Contest: Winners announced at Historic Preservation Day Ceremony on May 18 at the Mansfield Historical Museum, 102 N. Main St.
All events are free. For more information, click here.
Mansfield, Texas, is a booming city, nestled between Fort Worth and Dallas, but with a personality all its own. The city’s 76,247 citizens enjoy an award-winning school district, vibrant economy, historic downtown, prize-winning park system and community focus spread across 37 square miles. The Mansfield Record is dedicated to reporting city and school news, community happenings, police and fire news, business, food and restaurants, parks and recreation, library, historical archives and special events. The city’s only online newspaper launched in September 2020 and will offer introductory advertising rates for the first three months at three different rates.
The Mansfield Record is the only local newspaper serving Mansfield, Texas. Established in 2020, the Mansfield Record is bringing the focus back where it should be.
