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Eric Carlson was the mayor of Elgin, Texas. He was born Oct. 31, 1928, at Lund, a northern suburb of Elgin, and died Oct. 13, 2022, in Elgin.
Obituaries enumerate his many achievements during a long and active life of 93 years, but his work in preserving Elgin’s history is not stressed enough.
He was a long-time active member of the Elgin Historical Association and the association’s President and able leader until 1995, but his greatest contribution is less obvious.
In the summer of 1994, the abandoned Elgin Union Railroad Depot was in imminent danger of being torn down. It was decrepit having been occupied by the police department and the jail. The present-day archives room held the jail cells. Nasty is not a strong enough word.
During a private meeting at the Carlson home on North Main Street, Eric persuaded Charlene Jordan to help save the building which later became the Elgin Depot Museum. Jordan applied for Elgin’s first ISTEA federal grant of $168,000 submitted to the Texas Department of Transportation Aug. 12, 1994. Eric and Marge Carlson drove Jordan and the application to Austin arriving at the very last minute.
The grant was awarded in December 1994. Matching funds of $52,000 from the city were facilitated by Anna Rhiem, Economic Development director, and Jim D. Dunaway, city manager, at that time. Carlson and Jordan continued working with Jack Harzke, the incoming city manager, in a small committee handling the paperwork and technicalities involved.
L a rge subsequent grants written by Amy Miller and others were supplemented by volunteer work, smaller grants, receptions and gifts.
However, it all began in Carlson’s living room in August 1994. Without Carlon’s initiative, there would be no Elgin Depot Museum.
This article is the last by Jordan for the immediate future because July 3, her Patreon website was launched. Writing both, at least for the time being, is too labor intensive. The Patreon site includes stories about Elgin, Swedish history in Elgin; and German history in Elgin. The cost is $3/month. Follow her there at patreon.com/ CharleneHansonJordan.
Stories about life in Elgin will be submitted to the Elgin Courier by the Elgin Historical Association and taken from the association’s book “Elgin, Etc. Stories of Elgin, Texas.”
The first one, starting July 19, is “The War Touched Everyone” by Carlson.
