Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum

Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum The largest history museum in Texas, founded in 1932. (Currently closed.)
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This right-turn sign dates back to around 1920, when the concept of government-sanctioned road signage was still very ne...
06/19/2026

This right-turn sign dates back to around 1920, when the concept of government-sanctioned road signage was still very new. How new? Universal road sign shapes and colors (red octagons for stop, yellow diamonds for warning) weren't established nationally until the mid-1920s. This sign represents some of the very earliest local attempts at traffic engineering.

This artifact was donated to PPHM in 1987 by none other than T. Lindsay Baker, a renowned Texas author and historian who worked at our museum for several years in the 1980s. Sadly, Baker died a couple of weeks ago in Arizona at the age of 79 during a car accident while driving in the Route 66 Centennial Caravan. We are grateful for him, and so thankful to have been part of his legacy.

The hands-on nature of Pioneer Town made it one of the most popular destinations for visitors inside PPHM. Did you know ...
06/18/2026

The hands-on nature of Pioneer Town made it one of the most popular destinations for visitors inside PPHM. Did you know the tile floor of Pioneer Town's bank matches the floor of Canyon's First National Bank from 1908?

Also, take a look at those teller cages. They were custom-crafted in 1908 for The Panhandle Bank of Panhandle City. (Fun fact: The town was known as Panhandle City from 1888 until it incorporated in 1909. At that point, it dropped "City" and shortened the name to Panhandle.)

☀️ Summer fun continues with PPHM! ☀️Join us for another week of hands-on activities and family-friendly programming aro...
06/17/2026

☀️ Summer fun continues with PPHM! ☀️

Join us for another week of hands-on activities and family-friendly programming around the community:

📚 Thursday, June 18 | Canyon Area Library | 1–3 PM
🎬 Friday, June 19 | PPHM Movie on the Lawn
🔬 Saturday, June 20 | Don Harrington Discovery Center | 1–3 PM

This photograph from the Fred and Neva Hettler Collection is certainly an interesting one! The collection includes photo...
06/17/2026

This photograph from the Fred and Neva Hettler Collection is certainly an interesting one! The collection includes photos from 1908 to 1919 when they lived in Lubbock and then Randall County. Fred and Neva, along with their daughters Mary and Ruth, moved to Canyon in 1918, before relocating to Chicago a year later.

A number of agricultural scenes and local sites are among the photos in this collection, including one of their daughters sitting on a massive Hereford bull. We don't know much else about the context of this photo, other than to say we don't recommend you do this.

🎬✨ Free Movie on the Lawn: SHREK! ✨🎬Grab your blankets, lawn chairs, and favorite people and join us this Friday, June 1...
06/16/2026

🎬✨ Free Movie on the Lawn: SHREK! ✨🎬

Grab your blankets, lawn chairs, and favorite people and join us this Friday, June 19, for a magical evening under the stars on the PPHM East Lawn!

We'll be showing SHREK at dusk (approximately 8:30 p.m.), making for the perfect family-friendly night of fun, laughter, and fairy tale adventure.

🍿 Popcorn, sodas, and Shrek-themed merchandise will be available for purchase, so come ready to snack and enjoy the show.

A special thank you to FirstBank Southwest for sponsoring this community event and helping make Movie on the Lawn possible.

📍 PPHM East Lawn
📅 Friday, June 19
⏰ Movie begins at dusk (around 8:30 p.m.)

We can't wait to see you there! 💚👑🧅

This specimen shows an ancient plains bison skeleton unearthed in Randall County. Bison like this one survived the late ...
06/16/2026

This specimen shows an ancient plains bison skeleton unearthed in Randall County. Bison like this one survived the late Ice Age extinction, which wiped out mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths and saber-toothed cats in North America. Note the horn cores, which are the same size as modern bison.

As ruminants, bison had multi-chambered stomachs, which allowed them to gain maximum nutrients from the prairie grasses that emerged after mammoths and ground sloths starved. But despite surviving a major climate shift, they almost didn't survive the human-caused decimation of the nation's bison herds in the late 1880s.

🌟 Movie on the Lawn: Shrek! 🌟Join us for a fun-filled evening under the stars as we watch Shrek on the PPHM East Lawn!📅 ...
06/15/2026

🌟 Movie on the Lawn: Shrek! 🌟

Join us for a fun-filled evening under the stars as we watch Shrek on the PPHM East Lawn!

📅 Friday, June 19
📍 PPHM East Lawn
🕣 Movie begins at Dusk
🎬 Event runs until approximately 11:00 PM

Bring your lawn chairs, blankets, family, and friends for a relaxing night of outdoor entertainment. Admission is free!

A reel big thank you to our sponsor, FirstBank Southwest, for helping make this event possible.

We can't wait to see you there! 🍿✨

A few months ago, we showed you official civil and legal record volumes from Hemphill County, Texas. Here's another set ...
06/12/2026

A few months ago, we showed you official civil and legal record volumes from Hemphill County, Texas. Here's another set of books, which transferred to PPHM in the 1970s through a depository program administered by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Cities and counties would bind up official documents like deeds and records into large, sturdy books to be stored in the local courthouse. These are more than 100 years old.

Note the branding at the bottom of the Financial Ledger #2: Clarke & Courts Stationers & Printers, Galveston. This business was once the undisputed king of printing, lithography and legal book manufacturing in the American South. Most courthouses, banks and corporations in Texas relied on Clarke & Courts.

Interestingly, if you'll look closely, Financial Ledger #3 was printed by Geo. D. Barnard & Co. in St. Louis. They were the fiercest competitor to Clarke & Courts for the courthouse trade. Barnard may have sent a traveling salesman to Hemphill County in order to win its contract.

🐝 Friday's Summer Program Location Revealed! 🐝Did you guess correctly?Join the PPHM Education Team this Friday from 1:00...
06/12/2026

🐝 Friday's Summer Program Location Revealed! 🐝

Did you guess correctly?

Join the PPHM Education Team this Friday from 1:00–3:00 PM at Creek House Honey Farm in Canyon for an afternoon of learning, discovery, and hands-on fun inspired by one of nature's most important pollinators!

Bees play a vital role in our ecosystem and the history of agriculture across the Texas Panhandle. Come explore, create, and learn with us while enjoying a unique local destination.

📍 Creek House Honey Farm
🕐 1:00–3:00 PM
📅 Friday, June 12

We can't wait to see you there!

Today is the day from 8-11pm! Join us for Night at PPHM with a Glow! Come support PPHM’s mission of serving our communit...
06/12/2026

Today is the day from 8-11pm! Join us for Night at PPHM with a Glow! Come support PPHM’s mission of serving our community while having so much fun doing it! Tickets are $5 (at the door), and PPHM Members attend for free. Come this evening for interactive experiences, great food trucks, and memorable moments for the whole family.

Address

2503 4th Avenue
Canyon, TX
79015

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

(806) 651-2244

Website

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