The 1940 Air Terminal Museum is located at at William P. Hobby Airport and housed in the original art deco building which served as the first purpose-built terminal for passenger flight in Houston. The museum features collections focusing on civil aviation history in Space City. It is operated by the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society (HAHS), a non-profit organization.
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The 9/11 Flight Crew Memorial was born out of American Airlines Flight Attendant Valerie Thompson’s desire to honor the crewmembers killed on the planes hijacked on Sept. 11: American Airlines flights 11 and 77 and United Airlines flights 93 and 175. Her dream became reality when the monument was dedicated on July 4, 2008. Based on a design by Bryce Cameron Liston of Salt Lake City, Utah, and sculpted by Dean Thompson, the memorial features bronze sculptures of two pilots, two flight attendants and a child who represents the traveling public. The memorial’s base stands 18 feet tall. The names of crewmembers on the four flights are engraved on slabs of granite surrounding the base.
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The Art Car Museum is a contemporary art museum that celebrates the post-modern age of car-culture. The museum features a collection of stock cars and lowriders that artists have remolded and customized to their choosing. The museum, nicknamed the Garage Mahal, opened in February 1988.
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Baccus Cemetery in Plano, Texas, dates to 1847 when Henry Cook established the cemetery to bury his son, Daniel. The cemetery was initially known as Cook Cemetery. After Cook died in 1862, his daughter, Rachel, acquired the land, and in 1878, she deeded it to Cook’s heirs for use as a cemetery and a church, Baccus Christian Church. While the church was later abandoned, the cemetery, named Baccus Cemetery in about 1915, is still in use.
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From the late 1960s until he died in the 1980s, John Milkovisch covered his house on Malone Street with crushed been cans. The house — today affectionately know as the Beer Can House — opened in 2008 as a folk art museum. For a small fee, visitors can tour the house and learn more about more about Milkovisch’s passion. From the late 1960s until he died in the 1980s, John Milkovisch covered his house on Malone Street with crushed been cans. The house — today affectionately know as the Beer Can House — opened in 2008 as a folk art museum. For a small fee, visitors can tour the house and learn more about more about Milkovisch’s passion. “They say every man should leave something to be remembered by. At least I accomplished that goal,” one Milkovisch quote painted on an interior wall reads.
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The 66-acre Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is located on the southeastern shore of White Rock Lake in East Dallas. Since opening to the public in 1984, the garden has received many accolades from publications including Architectural Digest, USA Today, Fodor’s Travel, Trip Advisor, The Travel Channel and many others. The Arboretum includes many formal and informal garden spaces, world-recognized trial gardens, a concert lawn, picnic areas, food service areas, a gift shop, orientation theater, classrooms and the historic DeGolyer House.
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Dealey Plaza is today synonymous with the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. However, the history of the plaza dates to 1935 when it was dedicated. Named for longtime Dallas Morning News publisher George Bannerman Dealey, the plaza was completed in 1940. Construction of the 15-acre plaza was made possible after the Trinity River was rerouted to prevent flooding in the area. Home to some of the first settlements, Dealey Plaza is sometimes known as the “birthplace of Dallas.”
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The Dr Pepper Museum in downtown Waco is dedicated to telling not just the story of Dr Pepper, but the story of the entire soft drink industry. Charles Alderton who developed a unique combination of flavors in 1885 in Dr. Wade Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store. The soft drink — which, according to legend, Morrison named after the father of a girl he once loved — quickly became known as a “Waco.” The museum is located in the former Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company building. Completed in 1906, the structure was the first building built specifically to bottle Dr Pepper and remained in use until the 1960s when operations moved to a facility with more room for canning. The building remained vacant for roughly two decades until 1985 — the centennial of Dr Pepper — when work started to convert the building into a museum. The museum officially opened to the public on May 11, 1991.
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Fort Worth is often considered to be “where the West begins,” and the Fort Worth Stockyards was once the epicenter of the cattle industry. While still in active use for cattle sales, the historic stockyards attract thousands of tourists looking to climb atop a longhorn for a photo op, watch the twice-daily cattle drives or catch a glimpse of the unabated wild west. The Stockyards are home to a number of museums, including the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame and the Stockyards Museum. And, of course, the Grapevine Vintage Railroad.
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The George H. W. Bush Monument in Houston, Texas, was unveiled in December 2004 and features an eight-foot-tall bronze statue of George H. W. Bush. Chas Fagan designed the monument, located in Houston’s Sesquicentennial Park and part of a larger project that included a plaza and a wall with four reliefs sculpted by Willy Wang that highlight events of Bush’s career. David B. Jones and local immigration lawyer Charles Foster led the private funding for the project, which cost $1.7 million.
The George W. Bush Presidential Center opened on April 25, 2013. The centerpiece is a 9/11 exhibit, but it is but one section of the 14,000-square-foot museum that opened to the public last month. In addition, the museum features a full scale replica of the Oval Office, information about life in The White House, President Bush’s two dogs, a collection of autographed baseballs and an exhibit — complete with hanging chads — about the 2000 election in which Bush defeated then Vice President Al Gore.
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The Grapevine Calaboose, which derived its name from “calabozo,” the Spanish word for dungeon, was built as the town’s first jail in 1914. The Grapevine City Council authorized its construction in 1909. It was originally located elsewhere in town (on Barton Street) and moved to Heritage Park in 1976 and its current location in 1994. The jail apparently house associates of the Barrow Gang. It remained in use until the early 1950s.
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The Grapevine Vintage Railroad takes tourists from the small town of Grapevine, a town that cherishes its rugged western appearance and attracts tourists with wine tasting rooms and other merchants along its main street, to the heart of the old west, Fort Worth. At the stockyards, visitors can climb atop a longhorn for a photo op, watch the twice-daily cattle drives or catch a glimpse of the unabated wild west or visit one of the museums, including the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame and the Stockyards Museum. And, of course, the Grapevine Vintage Railroad.
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While many know the Harry Ransom Center as an internationally renowned humanities research center, it hosts many exhibits of interest to the general traveling public. The center, located at The University of Texas at Austin, is home to 100,000 works of art, 5 million photographs, more than 42 million manuscripts and nearly 1 million books. The collection’s highlights include one of only 20 complete copies of the Gutenberg Bible in the world.
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The 445-acre Hermann Park is one of the most visited public areas in all of Houston. The park sits in the middle of Texas Medical Center, Rice University and the Museum District. The park is named for George H. Hermann, who gave the land to the city in 1914.
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The Houston Police Department museum is located in the lobby of HPD headquarters at 1200 Travis. The museum features displays and a memorial wall honoring the officers who gave their lives in the line of duty. Displays include artifacts from the Honor Guard, SWAT, Mounted Patrol, badges, uniforms and other equipment police used over the years.
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The Interurban Railway Museum in Plano, Texas, was completed in 1908 by the Texas Electric Railway as its Plano station. The railway used the building until 1948, when it ceased operations, and it stood vacant until 1990, when the city of Plano renovated the building for use as the Interurban Railway Museum. The museum is home to Texas Electric Railway No. 360, a restored car. The Plano Conservancy for Historic Preservation has operated the museum since 2001.
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The night before he was assassinated, President John F. Kennedy stayed at the Hotel Texas in downtown Fort Worth. The next morning, he gave an impromptu speech outside the hotel, just hours before he was killed. “There are no faint hearts in Fort Worth,” the president told a crowd gathered outside the hotel. In 2012, the JFK Tribute was unveiled in General Worth Square downtown, near the site of the former Hotel Texas, today a Hilton.
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According to VisitDallas.com, “Phillip Johnson, a Kennedy family friend, constructed this stark and simple memorial to the late president.” The memorial is located in the Dallas County Historical Plaza and near Dealey Plaza, where President John F. Kennedy was killed on Nov. 22, 1963.
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John Neely Bryan wore many hats. He was a Presbyterian farmer, lawyer and a tradesman. Perhaps more importantly, he founded Dallas, Texas. In 1841, he built a small log building. A reconstructed model of the edifice was later erected in Dallas County Historical Plaza in downtown Dallas.
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Also known as New Oak Cliff Cemetery, Laurel Land Memorial Park is famous as the final resting place for musician Stevie Ray Vaughan and J.D. Tippit, a Dallas police officer Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly killed after he allegedly killed President John F. Kennedy.
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The LBJ Presidential Library gives visitors have the opportunity to learn about America’s 36th President, Lyndon B. Johnson, a particularly complex leader. The museum features state-of-the-art exhibitions to highlight many of the critical issues Johnson faced, including education, civil rights, the environment and the Vietnam War. Visitors can pick up a telephone and listen to audio recordings of Johnson as he conducts business. Beyond the political aspects, the museum sheds light on the personal lives of the president and the first lady, Lady Bird Johnson. The library was dedicated in May 1971 and is one of fourteen presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration.
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There are no launch pads at Johnson Space Center, but the center is home to the space agency’s mission control and astronaut training facilities. It was here that people on the ground oversaw space missions, including the Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. While the space center has a bit of a tourist trap feel to it, it’s not a bad destination for anyone interested in history or space travel. While here, be sure to check out the Saturn V rocket on display in Rocket Park. These massive rockets propelled Apollo astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Fla., into space on their way to the moon. In 2012, NASA also relocated Space Shuttle Explorer (now known as Space Shuttle Independence), a shuttle replica, to the space center.
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The McKinney Avenue Transit Authority, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, was founded in 1983 to return streetcar service to Dallas. Today, it operates the 4.6-mile-long M-Line Trolley. Millions of Dallas residents, workers, businesses and visitors have taken the trolley since it first ran in July 1989.
Sculptor David Adickes placed giant busts of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Sam Houston, and Stephen Austin along Interstate 10. If nothing else, the sculptures – adorned with “A Tribute to American Statesmanship” across their base — provide commuters a distraction during their rush hour drives. The park is officially named American Statesmanship Park.
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Founded in 1962, the Museum of the American Railroad is a not-for-profit Texas corporation dedicated to celebrating the heritage and exploring the future of railroads through historic preservation, research and educational programming. The Museum moved to its current location in Frisco in 2012. The Museum collects artifacts and archival material from the railroad industry to exhibit and interpret their significance in American life and culture.
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The National Museum of Funeral History contains a collection of artifacts and relics that aim to “educate the public and preserve the heritage of death care.” The 35,000-square-foot museum opened in 1992 and is home to “the country’s largest collection of funeral service artifacts and features renowned exhibits on one of man’s oldest cultural customs,” according to its website. The museum features a wide array of caskets and hearses, which one might expect to see at a funeral museum. But, the well-researched exhibits go much deeper, ranging from a look at celebrities’ deaths to the history of embalming to the mourning customs of the 19th century.
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The O. Henry Museum is the former home of William Sydney Porter, better known as O. Henry. The short story writer authored such standards as “The Gift of the Magi,” “The Ransom of Red Chief” and “The Last Leaf.” The museum collects, preserves and interprets artifacts and archival materials relative to Porter. Through exhibits, programs and tours, the museum focuses on Porter’s years in Austin. While living in the city, he wrote his earliest stories. The museum is on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Sometimes it feels like the history of Dallas centers on the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Contrary to prevailing opinion, it does not. Any visitor to Dallas looking to explore more of the city’s history should begin at the Old Red Museum of Dallas County History & Culture near Dealey Plaza in the heart of downtown Dallas. The museum, located in the historic 1892 Dallas County Courthouse, explores the fascinating history of Dallas, how the city grew into the major metropolis it is today and some of the cultural conflicts along the way.
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“Peace Circle” interprets the 1843 meeting between Republic of Texas President Sam Houston and 10 American Indian chiefs and captains on the Grape Vine Prairie. The monument features 11 bronze statues standing 1.25 percent larger than life size. The Peace Circle meeting later led to the Treaty at Bird’s Fort signing on September 29, 1843.
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Pioneer Park Cemetery consists of graveyards containing the remains of several of the Dallas’ earliest founders, including mayors, business leaders and heroes of the Texas revolution. Located in the Dallas’ Convention Center District and east of Pioneer Plaza, the cemetery dates to the 1850s and remained in use until the 1920s.
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Created in 1994, Pioneer Plaza is the largest public open space in the Dallas central business district. The park is home to the Cattle Drive Through Dallas sculpture. The giant bronze sculpture commemorates (as its name suggests) a cattle drive through the city.
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The 561-foot-tall Reunion Tower is one of the recognizable landmarks in Dallas. Part of the Hyatt Regency Hotel complex, Reunion Tower is the 15th tallest building in Dallas and located about 1,000 feet from Dealey Plaza where President John F. Kennedy was killed in 1963. Known locally as “The Ball,” the tower was completed on Feb. 2, 1978.
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According to a marker, “Built during the Great Depression, the Roanoke Water Tower was the town’s primary water source. Hugh H. Jenkins, Roanoke’s first Mayor, advocated for the well and water system to help the newly-incorporated community grow. In 1934, he consolidated Roanoke’s water system under the city and applied for public works administration funding, which was granted and used for the tower’s 1936 construction. Approximately 150 feet tall, the tower contains a 100,000 gallon capacity steel tank and stands on four steel legs. Though no longer in use, the tower was a vital part of Roanoke’s growth and remains a local landmark.”
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The Ruth Paine House Museum opened on November 6, 2013. The city of Irving purchased Ruth Paine’s small suburban home in 2009 to preserve the home’s history surrounding the tragedy. Half a century later, the historic home was restored to its 1963 look and transformed into a multimedia museum to interpret what happened in November 1963. On November 21, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald went to the house for an overnight visit with his wife and kids, who had been living with Paine. This was unusual as Oswald usually visited on the weekends. Video images projected onto glass panes depict actors re-creating certain moments, such as when Paine was shocked to hear Marina tell a police officer that her husband owned a gun. Paine lived in the house until 1966 and now resides in California.
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The San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site commemorates the location of the Battle of San Jacinto. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, the park is located off the Houston Ship Channel in unincorporated Harris County and is home to the San Jacinto Monument and the USS Texas, a New York-class battleship that launched on May 18, 1912, and served until it was decommissioned on April 21, 1948.
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Shannon Rose Hill Memorial Park is famous as the final resting place of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who allegedly killed President John F. Kennedy. Oswald, 24 years old at the time of his death, ended up here because no other funeral home wanted his body. Within months of his burial, thousands of visitors stopped by his grave to catch a glimpse of the final resting place of the alleged presidential assassin.
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The Susanna Dickinson Museum occupies the house Joseph Hannig constructed in 1869 for his new wife, Susanna Dickinson. Dickinson survived the Battle of the Alamo and delivered the news of its fall to Sam Houston. Houston went on to defeat Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, winning independence for the Republic of Texas. Dickinson earned the nickname of the “Messenger of the Alamo.” The “rubble-rock” style house, a style of architecture brought to the Texas Hill Country by German immigrants, is the only remaining residence of Susanna Dickinson. The museum displays rare Dickinson family artifacts and furniture Hannig produced.
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The Texas Capitol in Downtown Austin is perhaps the most recognizable state capitol building in the country. The Italian Renaissance Revival-style building stands 302.64 feet tall, making it the sixth tallest state capitol and taller than the United States Capitol in Washington. Workers laid the building’s cornerstone on March 2, 1885, Texas Independence Day. The capitol’s exterior walls are faced with red granite, which was quarried from near Burnet, Texas. Detroit architect Elijah E. Myers designed the edifice, which was completed in 1888. The building’s grounds are home to several monuments, including the Volunteer Firemen Monument and the Heroes of the Alamo Monument.
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A legacy of the philanthropists John and Dominique de Menil, the Menil Collection opened in 1987. The museum presents regular rotations of artworks from its growing permanent collection, organizes special exhibitions and programs throughout the year, publishes scholarly books, and conducts research into the conservation of modern and contemporary art. The Menil Collection’s main museum building, the first building in the United States designed by Renzo Piano, anchors a park-like 30-acre campus, which also includes the Cy Twombly Gallery, a site- specific Dan Flavin installation, the Byzantine Fresco Chapel — now a venue for long-term installations by contemporary artists — and outdoor sculpture.
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Established in 1900, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is one of the 10 largest art museums. The museum is home to an encyclopedic collection of more than 65,000 works dating from antiquity to the present. The main campus comprises the Audrey Jones Beck Building, designed by Rafael Moneo and opened in 2000; the Caroline Wiess Law Building, originally designed by William Ward Watkin, with extensions by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe completed in 1958 and 1974; and the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden, designed by Isamu Noguchi and opened in 1986. Additional spaces include a repertory cinema, two libraries, public archives, and facilities for conservation and storage.
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Originally opened in 1989, the museum, tells not only the story of Kennedy’s assassination and the aftermath of his death, but puts into context Kennedy’s visit to Dallas, which was in essence the first stop of his 1964 re-election campaign. The most powerful scene in the museum is arguably the reconstructed sniper’s perch. According to the Warren Commission, Oswald organized boxes containing schoolbooks into the perch; the museum based its reconstruction on photographs taken on Nov. 22, 1963.
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The Waco Suspension Bridge opened to traffic in January 1870, making it roughly 13 years older than the more famous Brooklyn Bridge. The 475-foot-long bridge forever changed travel in the area. Built at an estimated cost of roughly $141,000 (estimates vary) and designed by Thomas M. Griffith, the bridge was the first major suspension bridge in the state of Texas.
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