The Bullock Texas State History Museum
For most of its history, those wishing for a three-dimensional Texas history experience could only access it in bits and pieces. Now, however, one of the newest museums in the state finally paints the Texas experience with a broad, if not com- prehensive, brush: the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, which opened in 2001.
The creation of such a place required some extraordinary coop- eration and collaboration. The Texas Legislature authorized and funded the construction of the museum and provided that it be dedicated to Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock. The lieutenant governor was a student of Texas history and a strong advocate for the creation of the museum, and he was co-vice chair of the State Preservation Board that coordinated the planning. Operating funds for the museum became the responsibility of the Texas State History Foundation, created in 1999.
The mission of the museum didn’t include duplicating the col- lecting missions of Texas’ great his- tory museums. The artifacts upon which the exhibits are based draw from the deep collections of Texas artifacts in museums across the state, as well as private collections. Two special exhibition galleries and ever- changing artifacts in the permanent galleries allow for further exhibition of cultural resources.
Now, a visit to the Texas State Capitol in Austin can include the experience of Texas history coming to life through three-dimensional artifacts at the Bullock Museum, located just three blocks north. Enhancements to the more tradi- tional museum experience include an IMAX theater, featuring the first laser IMAX projection system in Texas and a variety of movies shown on the biggest screen in Texas. The museum’s Texas Spirit Theater hosts daily presentations of multisensory films, concerts and lectures. The museum also includes a cafe, gift shop and on-site parking garage.
Left In 1995, archaeologists located the 17th-century ship La Belle — originally part of an expedition of the French explorer La Salle — in Matagorda Bay and began a decades-long and often unprecedented process of excavating, recovering and conserving the ship’s hull. Right McArdle’s notebook was put on view for the first time in late October at the Bullock.
Perhaps the most significant artifact in the museum is the hull of La Belle, the remains of La Salle’s ship that sank in Matagorda Bay in 1686. This French incursion into Texas is the seminal event that drew Spain into Texas. And the La Salle exhibit was completed in 2016 with the instal- lation of the Belle’s hull, which will serve as the centerpiece of a completely renovated first floor. The story of how things changed and evolved after this event can be traced from there through the museum’s exhibits.
The Bullock Museum conducts original research and searches for the most unique and rare artifacts, photos and documents from collections worldwide to continually expand understanding of the past. New changes to the Texas Revolution experience on the second floor of the museum’s galleries feature contemporary interpretation and unique artifacts that highlight the excitement and struggles on the road toTexas’ independence from Mexico. Rare artifacts on view include tableware pieces made from the silver of one of Santa Anna’s confiscated saddles, a mule pack saddle from the Phil Collins Collection maintained by the General Land Office, a handsome pecan wood traveling desk used by Texas’ ad interim president David Burnet, and the two earliest printed accounts of the fall of the Alamo, dated March 16, 1836. A 1901 painting by Irish immigrant and Texas artist Henry McArdle, The Battle of San Jacinto, will be on view, and, for the first time, with a notebook containing dozens of letters, images and first- person accounts that McArdle collected over many years that paints the scene as accurately as possible.
