News

The annual Frontier Days festival kicks off next week in celebration of the western heritage and spirit of Stephens County.

With a chuckwagon cookoff, pageant, live music, food trucks and vendors, children’s activities, contests and more, the event is looking to bring residents and visitors together in Breckenridge during the event held May 1-2 at Miller Park. 

“It's just something to get the community together and get people out and have a good time,” Breckenridge Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Maylun VanWinkle said.

The Brownwood District of Texas Department of Transportation is accepting input on transportation projects scheduled for the next four years in Stephens County.

The 2027-2030 Rural Transportation Improvement Program (RTIP) for the Brownwood District includes the counties of Brown, Coleman, Comanche, Eastland, Lampasas, McCulloch, Mills, San Saba and Stephens.

The virtual meeting allows community members in those counties to learn about and provide input on transportation projects that could help shape the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).

A statewide Sales Tax Holiday will be held this weekend for emergency supplies to prepare residents for severe weather such as fires, floods and tornadoes. 

Eligible items can be purchased tax free during the holiday that will be held from Saturday, April 25 through Monday, April 27. There is no limit on the number of qualifying items that can be purchased during the holiday.

The Texas Department of Transportation will be performing routine maintenance on the Hubbard Creek Reservoir Bridge at the end of April that will require a full shutdown of the bridge.

A TxDOT contractor will close all lanes of the bridge Monday, April 27 to perform the maintenance, which is expected to take approximately one week to complete. 

The community gathered for a historic honoring of 100 years of the Stephens County Courthouse and the unveiling of a new plaque featuring the Col. William Barret Travis “Victory or Death” letter.

The event was held Tuesday, April 14 at the Stephens County Courthouse with support from Stephens County, the Sons of the Republic of Texas, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the Alamo Letter Society.

The Stephens County Courthouse has been listed within the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places since 1997.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department held a grand opening for Palo Pinto Mountains State Park, the newest state park in North Texas in more than 25 years located less than one hour from Breckenridge.

The state park is located on 4,871 acres of former ranch land which offers options such as hiking, biking, fishing and more. 

The Stephens Memorial Hospital Foundation is hosting a benefit run next month to provide hospital medical equipment and scholarships for Breckenridge High School seniors.

The SMH Color Burst is a 5K run held Saturday, May 30 at 200 S Geneva St. in Breckenridge. The run will not be timed and is a minimally competitive event where runners will be hit with colored powder as they run their route. 

After falling short of their fundraising goal last year and canceling the event, the Breckenridge Chamber of Commerce announced Boomfest will be returning this year due to local sponsors and community support.

Chamber Executive Director Maylyn VanWinkle said that support from local businesses made the event possible this year.

Efforts are held nationally and locally in April each year to raise awareness of child abuse in communities with a goal of prevention.

Dr. Goodall’s House in Stephens County and Virginia’s House in Young County join those efforts each year as part of Child Abuse Prevention Month. 

Names of Stephens County veterans are being requested to be added to the veterans memorial at the Stephens County Courthouse.

The deadline for the submission of names for the memorial wall is Friday, April 24. To submit a name, contact the Stephens County Veterans Service Officer at 254-559-7021, or the office of the Stephens County Judge at 254-559-2190.

Each year, new names are etched into the stone and the community gathers on Memorial Day for a ceremony honoring those veterans.