In 1949, Gonzales County had a population of 21,164 and the town itself had a population of 5630. The Inquirer reported that Gonzales received over forty inches of rain that year. The new gym at Edwards High School was opened and Dr. Bryan Denman opened his new dental office at 606 St. Louis Street. In March, a mass chest x-ray was held all week in search of tuberculosis. On May 12th, the Inquirer declared in bold headlines that the Gonzales Clean-up Drive was underway. The Rotary Club sponsored the cleanup drive, which lasted several days. Afterward, the town was dusted by air with DDT to control flies and mosquitoes.
On July 10th, Lawrence Walshak was installed as the Lion’s Club President, and on July 11th, L.H. Kronig was installed as the Rotary Club President. By July 19th, the total number of polio cases in Texas that year had hit 1,177. On July 22nd, the Federal Government instigated the heaviest tax burden in history to fund the Korean War. On July 25th, an area east of the fire station was cleared for expansion and remodeling, and a one-story addition was built to hold four pieces of fire equipment.
In August, Tudzin’s Store opened on the first floor of the Randle-Rather Building. The Seydler-Hill Funeral Home on North St. Paul Street was also enlarged, and Louis Hill became the sole owner. On August 9th, a fashion show by JC Penney’s at the Lynn Theater drew a large crowd. The Dairy Kreem at 1303 St. Lawrence opened on August 19th (now known as Guerra’s Restaurant).
On August 23rd, the city began mowing runways on Faurie Airfield to keep Gonzales on the aeronautical charts. This was the airfield on the Cost Highway, as the Gonzales airport north of the city was not established until 1962. On August 30th, forty-four concrete and brick picnic tables and benches were set up at Independence Park.
On September 2nd, a twelve-classroom building was added to North Avenue School, connected by a covered walkway to the cafeteria/auditorium. New steel bleachers were installed at Apache Field and were ready for the opening game in September. The “Fryer Frolic” was also held. On September 4th, the American Legion public swimming pool at Independence Park opened on Labor Day, and the fourth annual Gonzales Lion’s Club Quarter Horse Colt Show was held with 1500 people in attendance.
In 1949, the first drive-in movie, the Twi-Lite, was opened by Lynn Smith Sr. on south Highway 183 (soon changed to The Apache Drive-In). The School Board also voted to build a new cafeteria/auditorium on the Central Ward campus, including three classrooms, for $60,000.
