AUSTIN, TX The Texas Department of Transportation is celebrating a birthday this year - a significant one. The agency is 100 years old and the Lufkin District celebrated the journey through time recently with an event held on the brick streets of Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas.

To highlight the event, a 1918 restored Liberty truck was on display, leaving millennials scratching their heads on how to start the engine and old-timers reminiscing with smiles as the crowd gathered around the vehicle.

The Liberty truck will cross the state this year and includes stops at the Texas State Fair and the Bob Bullock Museum. It features historical photos and a visual timeline highlighting achievements that commemorate the agency's 100-year milestone.

TxDOT Executive Director James Bass released a statement about that milestone.

"We are extremely grateful for the century of support from our elected leaders and citizens who most recently authorized measures to increase highway funding, which will allow us to deliver new projects to keep Texans moving for the next 100 years," Bass said. "Our traveling centennial exhibit affords us a great opportunity to thank the public and share a uniquely historical perspective of how our roadways have evolved from their early beginnings into the expansive network we know today."

Attendees at the Lufkin District celebration enjoyed retired engineer Morgan Prince talk about his early years in 1954 when he was a summer intern at the Nacogdoches Area Office. He told of how every load of East Texas timber traveling east or west came across the brick streets of downtown Nacogdoches before modern-day roadways were constructed.

District Engineer Cheryl P. Flood, PE, also greeted the crowd after Nacogdoches Mayor Roger Van Horn gave the welcome. 

There was also a surprise in store for attendees when Flood presented the agency's annual Texas Road Hand award to retired Houston County Judge Erin Ford. As a list of accomplishments was read to the crowd, Ford's face changed as he realized he would be the honoree. 

"Retired Houston County Judge Erin Ford worked tirelessly as a transportation advocate in the East Texas area. His efforts to promote and support this agency and the Lufkin District are greatly appreciated. Judge Ford, your work did not go unnoticed," Flood said as she presented the award.