NAVASOTA, Texas (KXXV) — Three local women took it upon themselves to restore an historic landmark on the LaSalle statue plaque in Navasota.
- Kathy Wells, Jamie Pierce, and Jennifer McStravick are part of the Cross Trails Chapter National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century, a local historical preservation society.
- They work to preserve local history as well as serve and educate about local veteran organizations.
- The LaSalle statue in Navasota was erected in 1930 and they took it upon themselves to restore the bronze plaque so future generations can continue to learn about their local history.
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“In total, just working on the plant itself, the three of us, I'd say 30 hours," one Navasota woman said.
Two days scrubbing, spraying, and rubbing under the Texas sun.
“We had lots of people driving by, waving, 'Good job! You need any water?' — and took our picture. It's nice to get the support, a lot of thumbs up from the community as they drove by."
Kathy Wells, Jamie Pierce, and Jennifer McStravick are part of a local historical preservation society — this is the fourth historical landmark they’ve restored around Texas. Why do they do this?
“To promote history, so, the generations coming up know about their history in this area.”
Like the history of the Lasalle statue in Navasota, which was constructed in 1930 to honor French explorer Rene Robert Gavelier Sieur de LaSalle — he was an explorer who found the Mississippi River and was killed by his own men in a mutiny near Navasota.
Now 94 years later, the plaque was due for a touch-up.
“We cleaned it, and you scrub it, and you let it dry, and you wash it with soapy water, and then scrub it with a soft brush."
"We don't want to do any damage to it, and then clean it, rinse it with water, let it dry — we painted it, and then we do two coats of, in this case, a bronze paint.”
They say all the scrubbing was worth it to see the plaque look like new and see all the appreciation from their neighbors.
"They gave us inspiration to keep scrubbing."
