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By Amanda Rogers
Mansfield Record
Mansfield gets back to its roots this weekend and celebrates its 131st birthday.
The Man House Museum, 604 W. Broad St., will host the inaugural Founders’ Day Festival from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, and show off the recently restored home of one of the city’s founding fathers, Ralph Man. Man, along with his brother-in-law Julian Feild, incorporated their namesake city Aug. 23, 1890.
“It will be like stepping back into the 1800s,” said Jessica Baber, Mansfield Historical Museum manager. “We will have demonstrators, hands-on activities, music and food trucks. Some demonstrators will be in historical dress and some will sell the things they are making. The potter might have some ceramics to buy and the soap maker might have some soap.
“Come enjoy the day, play the games, old-timey games like horseshoes, sack races, hoop and stick,” Baber said.
The free festival will also be a chance for people to tour the Man House, Baber said. The city purchased the house in 2013 and started renovations in April 2020 to bring the home back to its 1930s appearance.
“Construction began on the house in 1865,” she said. “Over the next five years, it expanded from a one-room log-cabin, added a second floor (later) to what it looks like today. People definitely need to come see it.”
Another bonus is the new information center, which recently opened and has bathrooms for use for the public to use while visiting the Man House Museum and the Man’s Best Field Dog Park next door.
Parking will be limited so the festival will have shuttles from parking at Hypnotic Emporium (at Main and Broad streets), Walnut Street and from Heritage Baptist Church.
Mansfield, Texas, is a booming city, nestled between Fort Worth and Dallas, but with a personality all its own. The city’s 76,247 citizens enjoy an award-winning school district, vibrant economy, historic downtown, prize-winning park system and community focus spread across 37 square miles. The Mansfield Record is dedicated to reporting city and school news, community happenings, police and fire news, business, food and restaurants, parks and recreation, library, historical archives and special events. The city’s only online newspaper launched in September 2020 and will offer introductory advertising rates for the first three months at three different rates.
The Mansfield Record is the only local newspaper serving Mansfield, Texas. Established in 2020, the Mansfield Record is bringing the focus back where it should be.
