I consider myself an accidental historian. Unplanned, unintentional, but here I am. My mother, Mary Ann Uloth Malone, coauthored two pictorial history books of La Porte, Texas: Around La Porte (2011) and Sylvan Beach and the Pavilions (2012). Unfortunately, she did not become immersed in La Porte history until 2005, after my father, Norman L. Malone’s death. He was the longest serving Mayor in La Porte, Texas’ history (as of 2004), a former La Porte and Lomax council member, Justice of the Peace, and past Mayor of Lomax.
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Whenever I asked my mother why she wasn’t more active in La Porte’s history while he was alive, she always said there was enough on her plate. Plus, Mom didn’t want anyone to think her accomplishments were because she was the Mayor’s wife. So she instead immersed herself in another history, the Uloth-Malone Family genealogy.
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Heritage Society Became a Part of Our Life
Once my mother became active in the La Porte-Bay Area Heritage Society in 2005, she put her whole heart into it and served as a board member and president off and on over the next 15 years. During that time, she organized three “roast” fundraising events, one roasting Harris County Sheriff Bill Bailey, the second roasting former Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, and the third, Beth Rickert, retiring LPISD administrator. All were arduous work (I know because I helped) and resulted in raising thousands of dollars for the upkeep of the Depot Museum, restoring the Caboose and Library, etc. The biggest benefit was forging solid relations with area businesses and industry.
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It wasn’t until after I moved in with my mother in 2010, followed by her stroke in 2015, that I started working more closely with her on the historical documentation and telling of the stories of La Porte and the Uloth-Malone Family genealogy. At first, helping organize the documents and photographs she had amassed over the years, then I researched topics for her. There was hardly a nook or cranny in the house that did not have some box of photographs, newspaper clippings, or files tucked away.
History Finally Gets Undivided Attention
Then in 2010, the City of La Porte took over ownership of the Museum, leaving the organization in charge of the contents and maintaining the records and artifacts (and the headaches of preserving the historic structures to the City). There now was more freedom to focus on history. So mom and a couple of volunteers, along with the City of La Porte’s Economic Development representative, began diligently collecting oral and written records, stories, and photographs, organizing and documenting the museum archives, and marketing the Museum to visitors.
Around the same time, Dan Becker of Becker Books in Houston approached her, and they began working on the first book, Around La Porte. With my computer know-how, Mom often asked me to help her organize, scan photos, and edit content for the book. She even instructed me to take pictures of some building or location now and then. My photograph of the Depot, Caboose, and restored Library made it into the book, as a matter of fact. Unfortunately, caught up in my day-to-day work at the time, it was all more of a nuisance than a curiosity.
Pictorial history books of LaPorte, Texas: Around LaPorte (2011) and Sylvan Beach and the Pavilions (2012)
(Images of America series by Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina)
Then 2017, the docent for the Depot Museum, who was also my mother’s companion during the hours she was at the Museum, resigned. So, of course, it was only natural to take the position since I was Mom’s caregiver.
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Keepers of the Museum
So it began in the Spring of 2017. Every weekend. Mother and daughter duo to the Museum we’d go rain or shine (except for storm or freeze and occasional holiday). Mom was working on research, documenting, and identifying photographs, as she’d done for the previous 15 years. I scanned photos into the database, reworked exhibits, and dusted (a lot of dusting!). After listening to her tell the stories over and over to visitors, I soon learned enough of La Porte and Sylvan Beach history to answer Museum visitors’ questions. Sometimes we worked during the weekdays, giving private tours to large groups or out-of-town visitors.
Memorable Tours of 2018 and 2019
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Then It Happened
My curiosity in La Porte history was piqued in early 2018 when I discovered a moldy, weathered page from La Porte historian Gordon Black’s research notes. Under the heading “Fire Dept.” written in pencil in his small cursive writing was:
That was it. What the heck was “TMI”? I asked my mom, but it did not ring a bell. I looked through the little books on hand in the Museum and library but found nothing on “TMI” or 1902, and it wasn’t in any La Porte fire information available. So, I did what everyone would do in the 21st century; I Googled it and found a hint. That hint, coupled with my investigator background and just plain old intuition, led me to the answer and a beautiful yet sad story and a trip back in time to early La Porte, Texas.
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| 1900-1902 – Texas Military Institute, La Porte, Texas |
And the rest is history. . .
Coming soon…Reverend Dorsett’s Third Strike
