List of museums in West Texas

This article was split from List of museums in Texas

Replica of Judge Roy Bean office at Whitehead Memorial Museum

The list of museums in West Texas encompasses museums defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical interest and make their collections or related exhibits available for public viewing. Museums that exist only in cyberspace (i.e., virtual museums) are not included. Also included are nonprofit art galleries and exhibit spaces.

West Texas

West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semiarid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas.

The counties included are Andrews, Bailey, Borden, Brewster, Brown, Callahan, Cochran, Coke, Coleman, Comanche, Concho, Crane, Crockett, Crosby, Culberson, Dawson, Dickens, Eastland, Ector, El Paso, Fisher, Floyd, Gaines, Garza, Glasscock, Hale, Haskell, Hockley, Howard, Hudspeth, Irion, Jeff Davis, Jones, Kent, Kimble, King, Knox, Lamb, Loving, Lubbock, Lynn, Martin, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Midland, Mitchell, Motley, Nolan, Pecos, Presidio, Reagan, Reeves, Runnels, Schleicher, Scurry, Shackelford, Stephens, Sterling, Stonewall, Sutton, Taylor, Terrell, Terry, Throckmorton, Tom Green, Upton, Ward, Winkler and Yoakum.

Museums

West Texas museums
Museum name	Image	City	County	Type	Summary/Refs
12th Armored Division Memorial Museum		Abilene	Taylor	Military	History of the 12th Armored Division in World War II[1]
Abraham Art Gallery		Plainview	Hale	Art	Part of Wayland Baptist University in the Malouf Abraham Family Art Center[2]
Alley Oop Park Museum		Iraan	Pecos	Local history	Located in Alley Oop Fantasy Land Park, birthplace of Alley Oop comic strip, local history exhibits, Native American archaeological artifacts, also known as Iraan Museum[3][4]
American Wind Power Center		Lubbock	Lubbock	Technology	Features over 160 water-pumping and electricity-producing American-style windmills
Amy Graves Ryan Fine Arts Gallery		Abilene	Taylor	Art	Part of McMurry University[5][6]
Angelo State University Art Gallery		San Angelo	Tom Green	Art	Located in the Carr Education-Fine Arts Building[7]
Annie Riggs Memorial Museum		Fort Stockton	Pecos	Local history	Owned by the Fort Stockton Historical Society[8][9]
Anson-Jones Museum		Anson	Haskell, Jones	Local history	[10]
Bayer Museum of Agriculture		Lubbock	Lubbock	Agriculture	Formerly the American Museum of Agriculture, tractors, combines, plows, drills, farm-related artifacts, household items, farm toys[11]
Blanket Historical Museum		Blanket	Brown	Local history	Open on Saturday afternoons and by appointment[12]
Borden County Museum		Gail	Borden		Open the 2nd Saturday of every month or by appointment[13]
Breckenridge Aviation Museum		Breckenridge	Stephens	Aviation	Open by appointment[14]
Breckenridge Fine Arts Center		Breckenridge	Stephens	Art	[15]
Brown County Museum of History		Brownwood	Brown	Local history	Located in the 1902 Brown County Jail,[16] includes the Firearms Museum of Texas[17]
Brown-Dorsey Medallion Home		Midland	Midland	Historic house	Late 19th-century period Victorian home, open by appointment with the Midland County Historical Society[18][19]
Buddy Holly Center		Lubbock	Lubbock	Multiple	Texas music and contemporary visual arts exhibits, history and legacy of musician Buddy Holly
Buffalo Gap Historic Village		Buffalo Gap	Taylor	Open air	Historic Western village
Callahan County Pioneer Museum		Cross Plains	Callahan	Local history	Located in the basement of the Callahan County courthouse[20]
Casasola Museum/Museo Casasola		El Paso	El Paso	History	History of the US-México relationship, includes negatives, historical cartoons, special collections and audiovisual art works from 1821–2013[21]
Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens		El Paso	El Paso	Multiple	Part of the University of Texas at El Paso, regional cultural and natural history
Center for Contemporary Arts		Abilene	Taylor	Art	includes four galleries[22]
Chamizal National Memorial		El Paso	El Paso	Multiple	Includes a history museum and three art galleries
Chinati Foundation		Marfa	Presidio	Art	Contemporary art and sculpture
Cockerell Galleries		Abilene	Taylor	Art	operated by Abilene Christian University[23][24]
Comanche County Historical Museum		Comanche	Comanche	Local history	Operated by the Comanche County Genealogical Society, exhibits include a blacksmith shop, filling station, doctor’s office, replica saloon[25][26]
Conrad Hilton Center		Cisco	Eastland	Local history	Located in the Mobley Hotel, first hotel bought by Conrad Hilton, exhibits include the Innkeeper Gallery, Cisco Museum, Walls of Fame, Cisco Pictorial and the Santa Claus Bank Robbery[27][28]
Cowboy Country Museum		Stamford	Haskell, Jones	American West	Ranching heritage, area history, artwork, antique furnishings, period clothing, and a chuckwagon[29]
Crockett County Museum		Ozona	Crockett	Local history	American West period displays, local and regional history
Crosby County Pioneer Museum		Crosbyton	Crosby	Local history	[30]
Clark Hotel Museum		Van Horn	Culberson	Local history	Also called the Culbertson County Museum[31]
Dal Paso Museum		Lamesa	Dawson	Local history	Exhibits include home furnishings, pioneer tools, ranch and farm equipment, local art exhibits[32][33]
Denver City Historical Museum		Denver City	Yoakum	Local history	Displays include oil field items, farm and ranching equipment, dentist tools, pharmacy items[34]
Dickens Historical Museum		Dickens	Dickens	Local history	Displays include early pioneer and ranching items, county, city, and area histories, photo gallery, antique furniture, appliances, schools, military and historic clothing[35]
Don Freeman Memorial Museum		Eden	Concho	Local history	[36]
Dyess Heritage Museum, Memorial Park and Linear Air Park		Abilene	Taylor	Aviation	Located at Dyess Air Force Base, includes outdoor display of historic aircraft, museum about the base's history[37][38]
Fort Chadbourne		Bronte	Coke	Military	Restored and ruins of the mid 19th-century frontier fort that was also a stage stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail, visitor center with artifacts
E. H. Danner Museum of Telephony		San Angelo	Tom Green	Technology	Located at Fort Concho
Earnest and Dorothy Barrow Foundation Museum		Eola	Concho	Local history	[39]
Eastland County Museum		Eastland	Eastland	Local history	[40][41]
Eastland Law Enforcement Museum		Eastland	Eastland	Prison	Located in the historic county jail[42][43]
El Paso Holocaust Museum and Study Center		El Paso	El Paso	Holocaust
El Paso Museum of Archaeology		El Paso	El Paso	Archaeology	Prehistory and culture of the El Paso area and the Southwest
El Paso Museum of Art		El Paso	El Paso	Art
El Paso Museum of History		El Paso	El Paso	Local history	City's history and culture
Ellen Noel Art Museum		Odessa	Ector	Art	Collections focus is American art from 1860 to the present, particularly artists from Texas and from the Southwest[44]
Floyd County Museum		Floydada	Floyd	Local history	Includes artifacts from the 1540 Coronado Expedition[45]
Flying A’s Classic Car Club Museum		Albany	Shackelford	Automobile	Classic automobiles and memorabilia[46][47]
Fort Bliss and Old Ironsides Museum		Fort Bliss	El Paso	Military history	[48][49]
Fort Concho		San Angelo	Tom Green	Multiple	Includes restored fort with military exhibits, E. H. Danner Museum of Telephony with historic telephones and the Robert Wood Johnson Museum of Frontier Medicine
Fort Davis National Historic Site		Fort Davis	Jeff Davis	Military	Restored fort with five 1880s furnished period buildings and costumed interpreters
Fort Griffin State Historic Site		Albany	Shackelford	Military	Fort ruins, visitor center displays about the mid 19th-century cavalry fort
Fort Leaton State Historic Site		Presidio	Presidio	Military	Includes fort ruins, exhibits on the site's military, archaeological and natural history
Fort Mason		Mason	Mason	Military	Restored officer's quarters and exhibits about the frontier fort
Fort McKavett State Historic Site		Menard	Menard	Military	Restored mid 19th-century frontier post
Frontier Texas!		Abilene	Taylor	American West	Features interactive simulations of American West people and experiences
Gaines County Museum		Seminole	Gaines	Local history	[50]
Garza County Historical Museum		Post	Garza	Local history	Features ranch, cowboy, Indian, and pioneer artifacts
GIANT Museum at the Hotel Paisano		Marfa	Presidio	Media	Memorabilia of the 1956 film Giant that was filmed in town [51]
Grace Museum		Abilene	Taylor	Multiple	Includes an art museum, a local history museum and children's museum
Hangar 25 Air Museum		Big Spring	Howard	Military	Historic aircraft from World War II and the Big Spring Army Air Forces Bombardier School, history of Webb Air Force Base[52]
Hale County Farm and Ranch Museum		Post	Hale	Local history	Includes antique farm machinery, windmills, a depot and caboose[53][54]
Haley Memorial Library & History Center		Midland	Midland	Multiple	Changing exhibits of Western art and history from its collections[55]
Hallie Stillwell Hall of Fame Museum		Marathon	Brewster	Biographical	Life of Texas woman rancher Hallie Stillwell, member of the Texas Women's Hall of Fame[56][57]
Heart of Texas Country Music Museum		Brady	McCullough	Music	History and memorabilia of country music artists[58][59]
Heart of Texas Historical Museum		Brady	McCullough	Local history	Includes early ranch and home exhibits, farm implements, weapons, photos and memorabilia, restored county jail, also Curtis Field Control Tower displays military items
Heart of West Texas Museum		Colorado City	Mitchell	Local history	Exhibits include fossils, cowboys, farming, ranching, military, railroad, late 19th-century period Heritage House[60]
Heritage Museum of Big Spring		Big Spring	Howard	Local history	Exhibits include dolls, antiques, ranching, Native American and oil industry displays[61]
Hickman Museum		Big Lake	Reagan	Local history	[62]
Historic Fort Stockton		Fort Stockton	Pecos	Military	Restored fort buildings[63][64]
Howard House Museum		Palestine	Anderson County		Late 19th century period house
Hudspeth County Railroad Depot Museum		Sierra Blanca	Hudspeth	Railroad	Railroad and local history displays, operated by the Hudspeth County Historical Society[65][66]
Insights El Paso Science Center		El Paso	El Paso	Science	Currently closed and seeking new location[67]
International Museum of Art		El Paso	El Paso	Art	Located in the Turney Mansion,[68]
Ira M. Taylor Memorial Gallery		Abilene	Taylor	Art	Part of Hardin–Simmons University[5]
Jimmy Dean Museum		Plainview	Hale	Biographical	Part of Wayland Baptist University, life of television entertainer and businessman Jimmy Dean[69]
Robert Wood Johnson Museum of Frontier Medicine		San Angelo	Tom Green	Medical	Located at Fort Concho
Kimble County Historical Museum		Junction	Kimble	Local history	Operated by the Kimble County Historical Commission[70]
Lehnis Railroad Museum		Brownwood	Brown	Railroad	[71]
Lela Latch Lloyd Museum		Cisco	Eastland	Local history	Located in the former city hall[72][73]
Littlefield Lands Duggan House Museum		Littlefield	Lamb	Local history	[74]
Llano Estacado Museum		Plainview	Hale	Local history	Part of Wayland Baptist University in the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Regional Heritage Center, includes area history, geology, natural history, Native Americans, business displays, cattle ranching, period room displays[75]
Los Portales Museum		San Elizario	Pecos	Local history	Operated by the San Elizario Genealogy & Historical Society[76]
Lubbock Lake Landmark		Lubbock	Lubbock	Archaeology	Active archeological site and 336-acre natural history preserve, exhibits of fossils, Paleo-Indian and Native American artifacts
Lynx Exhibits		El Paso	El Paso	Multiple	Changing exhibits from other museums[77]
Magoffin Home State Historic Site		El Paso	El Paso	Historic house
Marfa and Presidio County Museum		Marfa	Presidio	Local history	[51]
Martin County Historical Museum		Stanton	Martin	Local history	Exhibits include farms, ranches, schools and local businesses[78]
Mason County Museum		Mason	Mason	Local history	Operated by the Mason County Historical Society in two locations, one as the Mason Square Museum, exhibits include prehistory, ranching and banking, Mason County War, Fort Mason[79][80]
McCormick Gallery at Midland College		Midland	Midland	Art	[81]
Meadow Museum		Meadow	Terry	Local history	[82]
Medallion Home Museum		Kermit	Winkler	Historic house	Early 20th-century Carpenter Gothic house[83]
Menard County Museum		Menard	Menard	Local history	Operated by the Menard County Historical Society in a 1912 railroad depot, open by appointment[84]
Mendoza Trail Museum		McCamey	Upton	Local history	Displays include Native American artifacts, fossils, oil boom mementos, a Santa Fe Railroad depot and the 1915 period Adrian House[85]
Midland Army Air Field Museum		Midland	Midland	Aviation	World War II aviation culture and history[86]
Midland County Historical Museum		Midland	Midland	Local history	[87]
Midland Downtown Fire Museum		Midland	Midland	Firefighting	Includes uniforms, equipment, vehicles[88]
Miers Home Museum		Sonora	Sutton	Historic house	Late 19th-century house, operated by the Sutton County Historical Society[89]
Million Barrel Museum		Monahans	Ward	Open air	Also known as Ward County Museum, complex includes 1920s jail, late 19th-century period Holman House, Rattlesnake Bomber Base Museum about Pyote Air Force Base in WWII, a Coca-Cola collection, windmill, school building with antiques, train depot, rail car and caboose[90][91][92]
Miss Hattie's Bordello Museum		San Angelo	Tom Green	Sex	Tours of the Victorian period brothel
Moran Historical Museum		Moran	Shackelford	Local history	[93]
Morgan Military Aviation Museum		Brady	McCullough	Aviation	Located at Curtis Field[94]
Motley County Historical Museum		Matador	Motley	Local history	Located in a former hospital, displays include hospital history, veterans, ranching, Native Americans, county history, schools, saddle making
Mt. Blanco Fossil Museum		Crosbyton	Crosby	Creationist
Muleshoe Heritage Center		Muleshoe	Bailey	Open air	Includes a depot, ranch house, the ranch cookhouse and bunkhouse and a log cabin
Museum of Texas Tech University		Lubbock	Lubbock	Multiple	Includes natural history, cultural history, art
Museum of the Big Bend		Alpine	Brewster	Local history	Part of Sul Ross State University, history and cultural heritage of the Big Bend area[95]
Museum of the Desert Southwest		Crane	Crane	Local history	Exhibits include Native American, cowboy and Horsehead Crossing artifacts; Castle Gap fossils; and petroleum industry memorabilia
Museum of the Southwest		Midland	Midland	Multiple	Includes Juliette and Fred Turner, Jr. Memorial Art Gallery, Fredda Turner Durham Children's Museum and a planetarium[96]
National Border Patrol Museum		El Paso	El Paso	Law enforcement
National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature		Abilene	Taylor	Art	Features changing exhibitions of art from children's books
National College Baseball Hall of Fame		Lubbock	Lubbock	Sports	History of college baseball
National Ranching Heritage Center		Lubbock	Lubbock	Open air	Includes museum of ranching history and art, park with 38 ranch structures and steer statues
National WASP WWII Museum		Sweetwater	Nolan	Military	History of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, World War II American female aviators[97]
Noncommissioned Officer Heritage And Education Center		Fort Bliss	El Paso	Military	History of the U.S. Army Non-commissioned officer from 1775 to the present[98]
Odessa Meteor Crater		Odessa	Ector	Natural history	Impact crater and museum
O'Donnell Heritage Museum		O'Donnell	Lynn	Local history	Features a room with memorabilia about actor Dan Blocker
Old Fort Bliss Replica Cultural Center		Fort Bliss	El Paso	Military	[99]
Old Ice House Ranch Museum		Sonora	Sutton	Local history	Exhibits include pioneer artifacts, ranching, lawmen and outlaws, transportation, model train[100][101]
Old Jail Art Center		Albany	Shackelford	Art	[102]
Old Pecos County Jail		Fort Stockton	Pecos	Prison	[103][104]
OS Ranch Museum		Post	Garza	Art	Includes sculpture and paintings of Texas, the American West, and Asia
Overland Trail Museum		Fort Davis	Jeff Davis	History	Early life in the old West, operated by the Fort Davis Historical Society[105][106]
Parker House Ranching Museum		Odessa	Ector	Historic house	Mid 20th-century period ranching family house[107][108]
Permian Basin Petroleum Museum		Midland	Midland	Industry	Petroleum exploration, equipment, industry, geology, art by Tom Lovell, Chaparral cars
Pioneer Museum		Sweetwater	Nolan	Local history	[109][110]
Potton House		Big Spring	Howard	Historic house	Early 20th-century period house, tours by appointment with the Heritage Museum of Big Spring
Presidential Museum and Leadership Library		Odessa	Ector	History	History of the American Presidency, including presidents, vice presidents, First Ladies, candidates, campaigns
Railroad and Transportation Museum of El Paso		El Paso	El Paso	Railroad	How transportation enhanced the development of business and industry in the region
Railway Museum of San Angelo		San Angelo	Tom Green	Railroad	Located in a 1909 Orient-Santa Fe Depot[111]
Ralls Historical Museum		Ralls	Crosby	Local history	[112]
Rankin Museum		Rankin	Upton	Local history	1920s period Yates Hotel, local history displays[113]
Robert E. Howard Museum		Cross Plains	Callahan	Biographical	Home of and museum about Robert E. Howard, author of Conan the Barbarian, NRHP
Roy Orbison Museum		Wink	Winkler	Biographical	Life of musician Roy Orbison[114]
San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts		San Angelo	Tom Green	Art	Collections include contemporary art, ceramics, works of Texas artists, Mexican and Mexican-American art, American glass
Sand Crawl Museum		Olton	Lamb	Local history	Includes area farming and ranching history[115][116]
Scarborough-Lineberry House		Midland	Midland	Historic house	Early 20th-century house, owned by the City[117]
Schleicher County Historical Museum		Eldorado	Schleicher	Local history	[118]
Science Spectrum		Lubbock	Lubbock	Science	Hands-on science and technology interactive exhibits, aquarium
Scurry County Museum		Snyder	Scurry	Local history	County history, also art exhibits[119]
Seagraves-Loop Museum and Art Center		Seagraves	Gaines	Local history	Includes western memorabilia, arrowheads, a general store, antique household appliances, examples of early pioneer living and a rotating art exhibit[120][121]
Silent Wings Museum		Lubbock	Lubbock	Aviation	Exhibits about the special World War II weapons system utilizing gliders, glider pilots, glider troops and their equipment and troop carrier units
Slaton Museum		Slaton	Lubbock	Local history	[122]
Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts		El Paso	El Paso	Art	Part of the University of Texas at El Paso[123][124]
Swenson Memorial Museum		Breckenridge	Stephens	Local history	Adjacent J.D. Sandefer Oil Annex Museum[14]
TecH2O Center		El Paso	El Paso	Environmental	Water management in the Chihuahuan Desert[125]
Terrell County Memorial Museum		Sanderson	Terrell	Local history	[126][127]
Terrill Antique Car Museum		De Leon	Comanche	Automobile	Antique cars dating back to 1901[128]
Terry County Heritage Museum		Brownfield	Terry	Local history	[129]
Texas Air Museum		Slaton	Lubbock	Aviation	Located on NE corner of the Slaton Municipal Airport, restored historic aircraft, military jets, transport vehicles
Texas Last Frontier Museum		Morton	Cochran	Local history	[130][131]
Tsa Mo Ga Memorial Museum		Plains	Yoakum	Local history	Operated by the Texas Federation of Women's Club, open by appointment[132]
Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts		Lubbock	Lubbock	Art	Visual and performing arts, includes four galleries[133]
UTEP Heritage House		El Paso	El Paso	Local history	History of the University of Texas at El Paso[124][134]
West of the Pecos Museum		Pecos	Reeves	Local history	Located in a period turn-of-the-20th century hotel and saloon, displays include railroads, cowboys, Native Americans, household rooms, clothing, rocks, lawmen, oil and gas industry,[135] location of the Texas Rodeo Hall of Fame[136]
White-Pool House		Odessa	Ector	Historic house	Reflects the 1880s and 1930s periods
Whiteface Museum		Whiteface	Cochran	Local history	Located in a former hotel[137]
Wichita - Brazos Museum and Cultural Center		Benjamin	Knox	Local history	[138]
Winkler County Historical Museum		Wink	Winkler	Local history	[139]
Z.I. Hale Museum / Rock Hotel Heritage Center		Winters	Runnels	Local history	[140][141]

Defunct museums

• El Paso Explorium, El Paso, closed in 2015^[142]
• El Paso Firefighters Museum^[143]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Museums in Texas.

• List of museums in Texas
• List of museums in East Texas
• List of museums in the Texas Gulf Coast
• List of museums in North Texas
• List of museums in the Texas Panhandle
• List of museums in South Texas
• List of museums in Central Texas

Resources

• Texas Association of Museums
• Historic House Museums in Texas

References