The Texas Heritage Museum began with the personal collection of Hill College history professor Harold B. Simpson in 1963, and has continued to grow. In 1997, state funding was secured to renovate the old library building and establish the Texas Heritage Museum as a state museum. Today, the Texas Heritage is comprised of three separate divisions: the Galleries and Collection, the Historical Research Center and the Hill College Press. The museum’s mission is to explore Texas and Texans during wartime and how those experiences affect us today.

Artifacts from past military conflicts in which Texans have been involved, including the War between the States, Spanish-American War/Philippine Insurrection, World War I, World War II, and Vietnam War. Notable among artifact holdings are uniforms, medals, and personal belongings and clothing of Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier in World War II.

The Research Center at the Texas Heritage Museum holds over 5,000 books, major reference works on the War between the States, capsule histories of both Confederate and Union units, clipping files, extensive periodical holdings, original letters and documents, and microfilm copies of muster rolls, compiled military service records, post returns, 1860 Texas census, and Texas newspapers.

Tours conducted by staff by prior arrangement; museum exhibits accessible for self-guided visits. Annually since 1979, the Texas Heritage Museum sponsored an annual Confederate History Symposium held on the first Saturday in April (except on Easter weekend). The Hill College Press, established in 1964, is also part of the Harold B. Simpson History Complex. To date, the press has published twenty-five full-length books and six monographs, several of which have won literary and historical awards.