The Bullock Texas State History Museum (often referred to as the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum or Bullock Museum) is a

history museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. The museum, located a few blocks north of the

Texas State Capitol The Texas State Capitol is the capitol and seat of government of the American state of Texas. Located in downtown Austin, Texas, the structure houses the offices and chambers of the Texas Legislature and of the Governor of Texas. Designed in 1881 ...

at 1800 North Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, is dedicated to interpreting the continually unfolding "Story of Texas" to the broadest possible audience through meaningful educational experiences. The museum is operated by the

Texas State Preservation Board The State Preservation Board preserves and maintains the Texas Capitol, the 1857 General Land Office BuildingTexas Capitol Visitors Center, and other designated buildings, their contents and grounds; preserves and maintains the Texas Governor's Man ...

, which also operates the

, the Texas Capitol Visitors Center, the

Texas Governor's Mansion The Texas Governor's Mansion is a historic home for the governor of Texas in downtown Austin, Texas. Designed by prominent architect Abner Cook, it was built in 1854 and has been the home of every governor since 1856. Governor Greg Abbott and F ...

, and the Texas State Cemetery.

History

The Bullock Texas State History Museum is named after the 38th Lieutenant Governor of Texas

Bob Bullock Robert Douglas Bullock Sr. (July 10, 1929 – June 18, 1999), was an American Democratic politician from Texas, whose career spanned four decades. His service culminated in his term as the 38th Lieutenant Governor of Texas from January 15, ...

, who championed the preservation and exhibition of Texas history and worked to establish its creation. Bullock was the guest of honor at the groundbreaking ceremony for the museum in April 1999 and died the following June before the museum was completed.

Exhibitions

In 2018, the Bullock Museum unveiled its newly renovated long-term first floor Texas History Gallery titled ''Becoming Texas''. The exhibition explores more than 16,000 years of Texas history beginning with one of the earliest known objects created by humans in the Americas, a projectile point discovered at the

Gault archaeological site The Gault archaeological site is an extensive, multicomponent site located in Florence, Texas, United States on the Williamson-Bell County line along Buttermilk Creek about 250 meters upstream from the Buttermilk Creek complex. It bears evidence ...

north of Austin. The exhibition also examines the early American Indian civilizations that cultivated the area prior to European arrival, European ambitions to colonize the land, and the global politics that influenced the growth of early Texas. The third floor explores land, culture and technology in Texas and includes sections dedicated to Texas ranching, oil, civil rights, science and space exploration, as well as Texas sports and music. The museum's ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American live music television program recorded and produced by Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", and is the only television show to ...

'' Theater features musical performance clips from the long-running PBS television series based in Austin.

Programs and events

The Bullock Museum offers a year-round calendar of programs and events. Large-scale community events include

H-E-B H-E-B Grocery Company, LP, is an American privately held supermarket chain based in San Antonio, Texas, with more than 340 stores throughout the U.S. state of Texas, as well as in northeast Mexico. The company also operates Central Market, an ...

Free First Sunday, Austin's celebration of

World Refugee Day World Refugee Day is an international day organised every year on 20 June by the United Nations. It is designed to celebrate and honour refugees from around the world. The day was first established on 20 June 2001, in recognition of the 50th anniv ...

, American Indian Heritage Day, and Spooktacular. The museum also hosts shows and social gatherings, lectures and discussions, drop-in preschool programs, film screenings, and seasonal family activities each spring break and summer.

References

External links

* Museums in Austin, Texas History museums in Texas Museums established in 2001 History of Texas IMAX venues {{TravisCountyTX-geo-stub

History

Exhibitions

Programs and events

References

Further reading

External links