CAMERON, Texas — A work crew was removing old plaster from the façade of a historic building in downtown Cameron earlier this week. What they found underneath was something to behold.
"I've done some preliminary Google searches, and we could look into restoration of the mural," said Erin Bradley, the building's new owner. "But it does depend on the structural integrity of the bricks since they’re over 100 years old.”
A massive, classic Coca-Cola mural and other vintage logos line the red brick walls of the soon-to-be-former Milam County AgriLife building. This location has previously been a furniture shop, shoe store, and many other businesses over the past hundred years.
Bradley, a third-generation Cameron native, has dreamed since she was a little girl of opening a nail salon in her hometown. She never expected it would include this surprise when she purchased the location two years prior. Already, numerous longtime locals, including Bradley's parents, have shared with her fond memories of the stores that once inhabited her building.
“We did see from a lot of photos that there was a lot of business happening [downtown], and it was sort of a central place for the community to meet and come and interact with each other," she said.
Bradley’s efforts to bring life and community back to downtown Cameron with a nail salon/coffee bar combo, are just like those of many new business owners planning to move into the city here in the next few months.
“We want the boutique businesses in downtown Cameron," said Milam County Judge Steve Young. "We want them in the county. You know, we want it to be a site where you go. We want it to be an attractive thing. We want people to have pride in downtown Cameron.
County government offices like AgriLife are vacating all the historic town square buildings they've recently occupied, and in April will be moving into a newly constructed building nearby. Young said this one-stop shop for government services will be housed at the site of the city's former hospital. He noted that he is happy to know that the business owners committing to filling downtown spaces plan to keep the structures intact.
Bradley said she is eager for the shops and restaurants that will come, and she can't wait to realize her childhood dream.
“I’m just excited for the opportunity to create another meeting space for the town, and make sure people have a place they can come together," she commented.
Bradley explained that she and her family aren’t sure what they’re going to do with the mural, whose paint is fragile, cracking, and crumbling. They do hope to find the original artist who made that mural and pay some sort of homage to the history of the building.