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YORKTOWN – The unveiling of wedding photographs and attire, some from the 1800s, is one of the highlights of the first weekend of the fifth annual Back Thru Time History Trail.

The Yorktown Historical Museum exhibits include more than 150 photographs contributed by Yorktown residents and people with Yorktown ties who have moved away. The wedding clothing display also includes some dresses from the 1800s. The photographs range mostly from the late 1800s to the 1940s, with a few newer ones – 1969 being the most recent – also on display.

“The response from the public was great. We got a lot of photographs,” said Marie Metting Boles of the town’s historical society.

Boles, who came up with the idea, said she has a particular interest in the role of flowers in wedding ceremonies, since her mother owns and operates a Yorktown flower shop.

“I guess it helped me realize the importance of flowers in the lives of people,” she said.

Boles praised Linda Hurta, who spent countless hours typing all the tags for the photographs, among other things. Bill Tapp created the display boards. Organization members and other volunteers helped bring the displays together.

The infusion of contributed photographs also gave the museum an opportunity to photographically archive not only the submitted photos, but much of the museum’s collection as well.

“This was something that needed to be done a long time ago,” said longtime historical society member Irene Wulf.

Bob Allen, of the Victoria Regional History Center, archived the photographs for the museum.

The wedding exhibit will remain up about one month. The museum, dedicated in 1978 in the two-story 1876 Eckhardt Building, also includes displays of early freight wagons, an indoor cistern, John Wesley Hardin’s spur, and many more aspects of life in early rural Texas.

The museum also includes a large doll collection.

The Back Thru Time History Trail spotlights Texas heritage in a different county each weekend in June. Weekend one includes towns in DeWitt County, weekend two features Goliad and Refugio counties, weekend three highlights Bee County, and in weekend four, the trail leads to Karnes County.

In addition to the Yorktown museum’s display, another highlight of weekend one is the grand opening of the DeWitt County Courthouse from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday. Renovation on the 1896 courthouse has now been completed. A re-dedication for the courthouse was held late last year. County workers should be back in the building in the coming weeks.

Sonny Long is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361580-6585 or slong@vicad.com or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.