By: Stucky (Senate Sponsor - Parker) H.C.R. No. 27
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 1, 2023;
May 2, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on
Administration; May 19, 2023, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 19, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The stagecoach, a quintessential symbol of the
American frontier, played a pivotal role in the founding of the city
of Bridgeport and continues to hold special significance to the
community to this day; and
WHEREAS, Bridgeport traces its beginnings to 1860, when a
group organized by William H. Hunt secured a charter from the West
Fork Bridge Company to construct a bridge that would allow
stagecoaches with the Overland Mail Company to traverse the West
Fork of the Trinity River; the shipment of supplies by stagecoaches
and wagons became integral to Bridgeport's economy and helped shape
the community's development in its early decades; and
WHEREAS, With its annual Butterfield Stage Days Festival,
Bridgeport has long celebrated its origin as a stop on the historic
Butterfield Overland Mail route, which stretched from St. Louis,
Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee, to San Francisco, California; in
recent years, the route has garnered increased recognition for its
historical importance, and it was officially designated as the
Butterfield Overland National Historic Trail in January 2023; and
WHEREAS, In addition to Butterfield Stage Days, Bridgeport
incorporates the stagecoach into a number of other annual events,
and the Bridgeport Visitor Center houses a replica Abbot-Downing
Concord coach, a stagecoach originally manufactured in 1827;
moreover, the city's efforts as part of the Texas Main Street
Program also incorporate the stagecoach as an embodiment of
Bridgeport's historic past and frontier spirit; and
WHEREAS, Through its legacy as a historic transportation
waypoint and its connection to the famed Butterfield Overland Mail
route, Bridgeport contributed to the development of our state and
nation, and its citizens continue to derive a special sense of pride
and identity from their city's association with one of the West's
most iconic symbols, the stagecoach; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby redesignate Bridgeport as the official Stagecoach Capital of
Texas; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That, in accordance with the provisions of Section
391.003(e), Government Code, this designation remain in effect
until the 10th anniversary of the date this resolution is finally
passed by the legislature.
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