Famed Texas maverick “Commodore” Basil Muse Hatfield said this of his home state: “It’s all right to lie about Texas because it’ll be the truth tomorrow.”
Clever, but in a state synonymous with mythic heroes and events, embellishments are unnecessary. Texas has flown under six different flags, and its revolutionary spirit beats on as unassailable pride in every Texan heart.
To appreciate the complexity of Texas’ past, visit the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio. Located in Hemisfair Park (site of the 1968 World’s Fair), this worthy institution chronicles the remarkable number of ethnic groups and nationalities that collectively form Texas heritage.
Roots are unmistakable in Texas. In historic New Braunfels, for example, the Sophienburg Museum traces the founding of this Hill Country community in 1845 by Prince Carl of Sohm-Braunfels and other German immigrants.
Simply being in Texas is to experience its past, and from Abilene to Waco, meeting planners have a treasure trove of connections to Texas history.
Landmark Originals
At night especially, Mission San Antonio de Valero—the Alamo—is powerfully haunting. Established in 1718, this “Cradle of Texas Liberty” shines on as the place where in 1836, 189 Texas patriots died in a valiant last stand against the Mexican army.
Just over a month later, General Sam Houston led the Texans to victory at San Jacinto—and gave a future metropolis its name. The battlefield’s commemorative site includes the 570-foot-tall San Jacinto Monument, the San Jacinto Museum of History and the USS Texas, established in 1948 as the nation’s first battleship memorial museum.
Another World War II naval hero is celebrated at the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay in Corpus Christi, while in Laredo, the capitol building of the short-lived Republic of Texas now houses the Republic of the Rio Grande Museum.
Other profound Texas originals abound. San Antonio’s other four missions—all still active parishes—are instant Old World passports, as are even older missions in 4-centuries-old El Paso.
Fortress sanctuaries from Texas’ frontier days now welcome groups, such as the event-capable Fort Concho in San Angelo. There is a rich group-programming menu at Fort Leaton near Presidio, a massive adobe fortress from 1848 overlooking the ancient Rio Grande Valley, an area once roamed by Comanche raiders and Mexican traders.
Considered the Cowboy Capital of the World, Bandera is home to a 40,000-piece Old West and pioneer collection at the circa-1933 Frontier Times Museum, while the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon—the state’s largest history museum—showcases Western heritage, paleontology and much more.
The past thrives in the state’s oldest cities, among them Nacogdoches, Galveston and Grapevine. Boerne—the 1849 utopian dream of German immigrant farmer-intellectuals—boasts some 140 historic structures, while Gruene (“gently resisting change since 1872”) is home to the state’s oldest dance hall.
Among the state’s many heritage festivals are the binational Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration in El Paso (and neighboring Juarez, Mexico) and Fiesta San Antonio, where revelers throw cascarones, which are confetti-filled eggs, and remember the heroes of the Texas revolution.
Are you a Pepper? Three floors of exhibits at the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco, originally the bottling plant from 1906, tell the story of America’s first soft drink. Also serving the popular imagination is another treasure of Texas heritage: Johnson Space Center in Bay Area Houston, taking groups on a journey into the heart of the American space adventure.
And in Plano, Southfork Ranch Event and Conference Center—once the filming location for Dallas—is now a mega-event destination, with over 63,000 square feet of indoor space and acres of sprawling Texas ranchland.
Capturing the Experience
Few sites in the world are as gripping as the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas. By the time Pierce Allman—the first reporter to broadcast from the scene that fateful day in 1963—has audio-guided you to the window where Oswald fired upon the Kennedy motorcade, you’ll have experienced an emotional gauntlet.
In Abilene, your hosts at Frontier Texas! lived on the Texas frontier between 1780 and 1880. Actually, these “spirit guides” are holographic Native Americans, buffalo hunters, soldiers and settlers, but their “firsthand” accounts are spellbinding.
The event-ready Texas State History Museum in Austin tells the Story of Texas with three floors of interactive exhibits and two eye-popping shows: the multisensory Star of Destiny and the IMAX-format Texas: The Big Picture.
Charged with “ranging” the Texas frontier in 1823, the legendary Texas Rangers are among the world’s enforcement elite. Waco honors them with the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum.
In 1901, engineer Anthony F. Lucas struck oil on a hill near Beaumont, and the state’s now titanic industry was born. The Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum captures all the energy with a recreated city complete with a saloon, working blacksmith shops and yes, a live oil gusher.
Poised for greatness as a leading port and immigration center, Galveston was hit in 1900 by a ferocious hurricane. Today, the city’s Texas Seaport Museum stirringly recalls this natural disaster—one of the worst in U.S. history—along with Galveston’s era as the “Ellis Island of the West” and maritime center, symbolized by the circa-1877 tall ship Elissa.
Also preserving the Gulf Coast’s nautical past is the scenic Texas Maritime Museum in Rockport and the Museum of the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur, which also honors Janis Joplin and other local musical heroes.
Welcome Back
Once the world’s beef capital and head of the legendary Chisholm Trail, the Stockyards National Historic District in Fort Worth endured a long decline before its revitalization as a heritage destination. From twice-daily cattle drives to year-round rodeo at the Cowtown Coliseum, you’ll swear you’re in the Old West.
And that’s the point: It’s a Texas tradition to save the past from the wrecker’s ball, classically illustrated by the West Texas frontier town of Abilene.
“Our historic revitalization began in 1986 with the Paramount Theater,” says Nanci Liles of the Abilene CVB. “Today, most of downtown has been completely restored, dedicated to artistic, cultural and meetings purposes.”
The Grace Museum, a beautifully restored hotel built in 1909, houses the History Museum, the Art Museum and the Children’s Museum. Two renovated historic hotels, the Wooten and the Windsor (the first to bear Conrad Hilton’s name), have elegant ballrooms for rent. And recapturing the glory of the Texas and Pacific Railway, the T&P Events Center is a top events venue.
Railroads, like oil, transformed the Texan economy. Their legacy continues at places like San Antonio’s ornate Sunset Station, a restored complex from 1902. From NCAA Final Four parties to major corporate events, it’s a big draw—there’s room for 3,000 people—and it’s also the birthplace of the (surprisingly) delicious guacamole margarita.
Lovingly restored, too, is Ashton Depot in Fort Worth, now an elegant event venue, and the Santa Fe Depot & Railway Museum in San Angelo. Lubbock’s Entertainment District, which includes the Buddy Holly Center, was once a train depot.
As the corporate home of air carriers American and Southwest, Texas also has a rich aviation history, recalled at institutions such as the Silent Wings Museum, also in Lubbock.
One of the world’s few museums dedicated solely to commercial aviation, the American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum in Dallas is a hands-on, window-seat look at the world of flight. Nearby—and just minutes from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport—the Dolce-managed American Airlines Training and Conference Center provides more than 75,000 square feet of meeting space and 75 meeting rooms.
Military airpower is famously displayed at the American Airpower Heritage Museum in Midland, also the headquarters of leading warbird organization the Commemorative Air Force.
On a site established by Spanish soldiers stationed at the Alamo, La Villita is now a historic arts village and outdoor event space in San Antonio.
In Lubbock, the National Ranching Heritage Center preserves the early days of a living Texas tradition.
Following a mandate that homeowners must renovate instead of rebuild, Galveston harbors a spectacular collection of historic Victorian buildings.
Texas is unique precisely because of its history, making the state rare in its custodial and curatorial care of its treasures.
