Bridging the gap - pgs

Tucked between a sleek new hospital and a historic cemetery on the outskirts of Junction, the Kimble County Historic Museum celebrates the area’s rich and lively past. It brings to fruition the dream and extensive work and contribution of lifelong resident and county historian, the lat Frederica Wyatt.

With a population of just 4,375, the county of Kimble may not be a highlight in most history books, but it’s got plenty of very, very interesting history, which includes a Texas governor, a longtime US representative, the Texas Ranger who took out Bonnie and Clyde... the county is named for one of the heroes who gave his life in the Alamo. Every corner of the museum building and property houses antiques, with even the adjoining lot showcasing a historical chink log cabin, bygone farm equipment and nineteenth century markers of the Old Spanish Trail. “We outgrew our other building,” Museum Director Connie Low explained, detailing the 2016 move from the “Old Museum” across town to its present location. “Truthfully, we’ve outgrown this building too,” Low laughs and shrugs,

Every Thursday in the Saloon is

Half price drinks for ladies all night, 5-11

The Hall is open when a dance is scheduled there, but you’re always welcome to take a peek if you’re at the Saloon!

SALOON HOURS: Thursday-Saturday, 5-11 (later if there’s a dance in the Hall)

The best way to stay up-to-date with the music calendar is to LIKE us Facebook: London.TexasDancehall

Notable upcoming dances:

Saturday, Nov. 5: Hunter’s Welcome Dance w/ the Rocky King Band Friday, Nov. 25: London Hall Turkey Ball w/ Jody Nix & the Texas Cowboys Saturday, December 31: NEW YEAR’S EVE w/ Case Hardin

Every weekend during hunting season!

Family friendly- get those kids on the dance floor!

Beer & set ups for sale. Bring your own liquor or wine

Light concessions available

17430 US 377 London, Texas • 325-475-2300

looking at the carefully arranged artifacts around her.

Taking a serpentine path through the building, the museum is arranged in chronological order, starting with limestone shells from the Permian Period, when the characteristic hills of the area were being formed under a vast inland sea, and continuing past the prehistoric peoples showcased by a dazzling array of arrowheads, and then through the time of lawless gangs that settled and thrived among the canyons until the famous round up in 1877 by a group of 40 determined Texas Rangers. The remainder of the tour reveals a thriving rural town that weathered the wars and trials of the 20th and 21st centuries.

“I say it’s so awesome that you can walk through the history of Kimble County by going through this museum,” Low commented giving a tour. “[People] don’t realized how much Kimble County was a part of Texas History,” she says, pointing out the more notable pieces, such as the 165-yearold bar where Robert E. Lee had a drink while stationed at Fort Mason in 1853, or the spectacles belonging to Davey Crockett’s kinswoman. The sheer amount of local history, rich and dramatic as it may be, is not soley responsible for the museum’s sizable stockpile of artifacts. The level of community engagement is what truly makes this a remarkable place. “We don’t buy anything.” Low said gesturing to the artifacts around her. “Everything here is donated.

Donated or loaned.” That interest and care is easy to spot, evident in the tags attached to items throughout the museum designating artifacts as ‘On loan’.

“We have a lot of people in this county who really care,” Low remarked.

Local history is a subject of intense curiosity.

This local obsession was evident in the “Old Museum” as well. Before

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the 2016 move, the museum was housed in a small American Legion building near the courthouse, constructed by volunteers after World War I. Built to be a home-base for the various patriotic gatherings and activities hosted by the American Legion, the site was designated as a museum one month into its construction. Volunteers imbedded artifacts, limestone fossils, fossilized wood, weapons, and memorabilia into the concrete and native stone, displaying the ancient and recent history of its people in the very walls of the building. Plaques bearing the names of local soldiers who fought and died in World War I were inset, and later after another round of heartbreak and war, another plaque bearing more names of Kimble County’s World War II fallen soldiers was added. In 1965, the building was set apart for exclusive use as museum, and the Survey Committee invited locals to donate or loan interesting or historic items. The locals again responded enthusiastically. Among the early items donated to the museum were dinosaur teeth, a bear skull, 1880s clothing pattern books, Indian artifacts, pioneer tools, a Flint Lock rifle, and Governor Coke Stevenson’s personal typewriter. “[The old building] was built to commemorate some of the guys in the war,” Low said, detailing how historical artifacts were set in the walls during construction, “but you couldn’t see some of that when it was a museum because there was so much stuff.”

The need for more space became evident, and after a new hospital was built on the adjacent lot, the county sold the present building to historical commission for one dollar. The building was extensively refurbished using donated money and materials. To honor the building’s origins and showcase the history that took place there, one room was preserved in its original mint green state: the alleged-to-behaunted ICU room, where the dying were cared for until their final moments.

The resulting building, tiled in green, yellow, and orange of the surrounding juniper hills, ochre grass fields, and rusted farming equipment, is simultaneously modern and historic and the winner of John L Nau, III Award for Excellence in Texas Museums. It houses two wings for exhibits, a meeting room, media room for lectures and genealogy department. Serving as a community staple, it not only shows artifacts of long-gone people from a long-gone era, but explores and celebrates the collective identity and foundation of the current community. In a county where most people can list their family history back to the settling of the area, this is not an abstract exercise, but a concrete thing.

As Low explained, “If you get into it and start looking, near everybody is gonna find a relative. It’s their history. We just hang onto it for them.”

Just inside the front entrance, the museum’s motto is embedded in the wood floor: ‘By honoring our yesterdays, we define our tomorrows.’ If the past is any indicator of the future, the Kimble County Historic Museum can only grow and thrive as the people of Kimble County cherish it, just as they always have.

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Gary Broach, Owner

(830) 896-6996 2391-A Junction Hwy. gbroach@ktc.com Kerrville, Texas 78028 www.rhodestaxidermy.com