Description

To afford the community & region the highest level of museum experience; to preserve & protect artifacts with every known & reasonalbe method; to carefully research them; & to be as accessible as possible to the visiting public. The Carson County Square House Museum is an extraordinary repository of the regional history working diligently to achieve the above mission. Through the artifacts, artwork and historic documents on file, the history of the Texas Panhandle comes alive. The resources available complement a number of research disciplines.

History

The Square House Museum, founded in 1965, is a complex of 14 buildings, exhibit units, and macroartifacts within the City of Panhandle. It opened as a museum on July 22, 1967. With the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day, the museum is open to the public every day of the year.

The Square House Museum was the third museum in Texas to be accredited by the American Association of Museums (1972). It was re-accredited in 1980 and again in 1990, with a special letter of commendation for its growth and for development in every phase of the museum. Among the museum s many honors are the American Association of State and Local History s National Award of Merit (1978) and a listing for the Square House on the National Register of Historic Places (1972).

A stick colonial house built of wood hauled by ox cart from Dodge City, Kansas, the Square House was originally one of three ranch houses erected in the mid-1880s by the Niedringhaus Brothers on land which they leased from the Francklyn Land and Cattle Company. As headquarters for the earliest important ranch in Carson County, the houses stood alone on a vast prairie of six hundred fifty thousand acres. The historic house became the home of many who made an imprint on the early history of the Plains. Among those who called the Square House home or used it as a shelter during business trips were Captain Burk Burnett, Colonel Charles Goodnight, British Syndicate Representatives M. K. Brown and C. P. Bucker as well as many other pioneer businessmen and ranchers. It is currently the oldest extant building in the City of Panhandle.

The structure is a twenty-four by twenty-four square foot building, which now houses exhibits summarizing regional history. Adjoining the Square House is a brick building, the Opal Weatherly Purvines Annex, which functions as an art gallery, costume display area, and houses the museum store. Included in the museum complex is a dugout dwelling complete with furniture original to such a home; a red barn housing tools and ranch equipment; a 1928 Santa Fe caboose; the Moody Wildlife and Natural History Gallery; a pioneer bank exhibit; a blacksmith shop; a diorama displaying a cowboy branding a calf; a general store; a 1930s Santa Fe Railway depot office; and a print shop/newspaper office from the same time period. Above all towers a 12-foot diameter wooden Eclipse windmill.

Another history exhibits building, Freedom Hall, was erected during the American Bicentennial. This building is one of the most functional in the museum complex and houses work rooms, storage for permanent collections, and the Hall of Man displaying fifteen major exhibits telling the story of the Panhandle region from 12,000 B. C. to the present. The Senator Grady and Andrine Hazlewood Educational Center was opened in 1987. The 5,275 square foot structure doubles the art gallery exhibit space, increases case exhibits by eighteen large permanent exhibit cases, provides an auditorium for 200 people, includes a room for classroom teaching of arts and crafts, doubles the artifact storage, and adds a much needed kitchen area for museum functions. The building is climate controlled and equipped with the finest features for the exhibit and conservation of artifacts. The Conway Community Church was moved into the complex in 1991, completely restored, and is used for a variety of small social, cultural, and artistic functions.

Artifacts Collections

The permanent collection of the museum, focusing on the late 19th- to early 20th-century objects from the Texas Panhandle, consists of textiles and clothing, documents and photographs of pioneer life, furniture, wildlife of the area, musical instruments, timepieces, Indian artifacts, and art. Bronze sculptures in the permanent collection include works by nationally known artists such as Grant Speed, Buck McCain, and Jim Thomas. The Square House owns one of the largest collections of Native American art in Texas, including works by artists such as Tsatoke, Mopope, Peña, Begay, Wachetaker, and Roybel. Recently acquired was the entire collection of Chief Wolf Robe. Another outstanding contribution made to the collection was the donation of 259 volumes of rare Texana by L. P. Gilvin for a research library.

The collection of over 21,000 artifacts is catalogued, correctly identified, and conserved with maximum attention to preservation. Air filters, humidifiers, temperature controls, approved lighting, and acid-free boxes and papers are used in the two on-premises storage areas, a large off-premises all-steel warehouse, and space donated by the Santa Fe Railway in the local depot. The staff and director have had special training in conservation and preservation, and the collection is regarded as a public trust to be carefully preserved and displayed.

Research Collections

Over 4,000 photographs, 500 books (most relating to Panhandle area), and documents pertaining to prominent citizens, the county, personal papers, local newspapers, school annuals. Available for research in the museum.