A piece of history
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Kevin Buehler/Odessa American |
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“We would hope that they would have the feel or pride of the past,” he said. “You look at these and see something dated 1889. These took a lot of work, and we want to preserve it.” The books do not age gracefully, County Clerk Linda Haney said. “It was subject to oil on your hands and atmospheric conditions,” she said. The books were sent to DeRidder, La., where they were treated by Louisiana Binding Services. There, the pages were deacidized and sealed in Mylar. The project was largely funded by $10,000 approved by Ector County commissioners, Moore said. The first group of books cost between $420 and $1,000 to restore. Moore is also applying for grants to get more money for the project. Moore is hoping for funding of around $20,000 a year for at least 20 years to get the project done. He said the books are still in use, particularly in cases involving petroleum royalties. “Whenever they’re tracing someone’s land, they have to find exact measurements from when it was homesteaded,” he said. But some say it is the county clerk’s office’s responsibility to pay for restoration of the books, which are located in that part of the Ector County Courthouse. “It sort of bothers me that the historical commission is having to pick up that bill,” Precinct 3 Commissioner Barbara Graff said during a meeting Monday. But Haney said she has to use all funds designated to her for preservation purposes to digitize records. Gail Loving Barnes, historical commission vice chairwoman, said much work remains. “Even though you cannot preserve everything in the state of Texas, we would like to preserve something for our grandchildren to hold in their hands,” she said. Future needs for restoration include a large plat book, Moore said. “We don’t know how much it’s going to cost,” he said. Haney said the work is appreciated. “This group of people have been working diligently for a long time,” she said.
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