heart of west texas museum

This was a neat and fun place to go visit. I really enjoyed the exhibits and being able to wander around without having someone a half step behind me. I could wander at my pace and enjoy it.

We were passing through Colorado City and saw signs for this museum and figured we'd stop by, not having high expectations at all but we were pleasantly surprised. The museum is based in an old mansion, which is the oldest brick house in Colorado City. It's focused on artefacts and information about Colorado City and the surrounding area and includes a pretty impressive mammoth skeleton, which was found nearby. There's also interesting information about cowboys and Indians. If you're going past Colorado City, this museum is well worth a detour.

This is a very nice little museum, in a restored historic mansion downtown. The key attractions are on the first floor, which houses a fascinating and impressive mammoth skeleton that was discovered near Colorado City in 2001. This exhibit is well-done and informative, as are other myriad local archeological artifacts that are displayed to good effect on the floor. Upstairs are exhibits that are more typical of a small town museum (and I don't mean that negatively): old photos, and assorted items exemplifying what life was like in the19th century and the first half of the 20th. Particularly touching and memorable is a set of telegrams and letters from federal and military officials to the family of a local boy killed in France in WWII, including from FDR and Henry Stimson. You can also go through a caboose to the rear of the mansion, which was pretty cool actually.Now for the hard part: figuring out when this museum is open. Finding basic information about hours is very difficult on the internet (this place DESPERATELY needs a website--surely the local high school kids could design one). Eventually I called the museum phone number and left a message, and a nice young woman named Amy called me back and offered to meet my 8 year old daughter and I to let us in and show us around. She explained that the museum was having trouble finding consistent volunteers, which is sad, because this museum should be a point of community pride. Making an appointment was well worth it. If you are passing through on I-20 or are in the area, I recommend doing what I did--just call and ask to see the place. It takes about an hour to go through the museum, and there is no charge (though I made a donation).Small gift shop.