Vera Reynolds

Interviewed by: Stephanie Kroll & Allison Gorzell

          The first person we interviewed was Mrs. Vera Reynolds one of the managers of the Runge Museum.  She told us a little about the history of Runge that she knew and she gave us a book with a lot of information about Runge’s History.  The name of the book is The Runge Centennial.  We asked her the following questions.

When was Runge founded?

The town of Runge owes its existence to the decision in 1887 of the S. A. & A. P. railroad to extend its tracks eastward from Kenedy Junction to Houston.

Who started the town?

Mr. Henry Runge was the man who started this town.  Immediately after the railroads decision, the enterprising group of men known as H. Runge and Company platted the town site and gave it the name Runge.

What was the main jobs and production of this town?

Besides the few people that started small businesses, the main production of this town was the cotton gins.  At the peak of production in the first two decades of the twentieth century five gins operated day and night during the season.  An average season for a gin was considered to be 3600 bales.

What can you tell us about the Runge Cemetery?

The first person to be buried in the Runge Cemetery was in May of 1890 a woman by the name of Mrs. Sarah Ann House, born in 1843 in Alabama.  The Runge Cemetery is still in use and contains approximately 1800 graves.  H. Runge and Co. gave the Runge Cemetery to Runge in 1886.  They planned the cemetery, roads, and gravesites.

What was the one historical building that you remember that is not here today?

Runge had three hotels that do not remain here anymore.  In 1930, a commodious two-storied hotel was built by Judge Archer, of Helena, and was operated by L. C. Tobin and the building burned in 1966.

Do you live here or do you just work at the museum?

I live here and work at the museum.