Coryell Museum and Historical Center

10/15/2026

🏡✨ Attention, dollhouse and miniature enthusiasts! ✨🏡

The Coryell Museum has a fascinating collection of miniatures that you won’t want to miss! Come explore the tiny details and discover the charm of these wonderful little worlds. 🪑🖼️🔍

10/13/2026

10/10/2026

🌟 Volunteer Spotlight: Catherine Fulton 🌟

The Coryell Museum is fortunate to have dedicated volunteers like Catherine Fulton! Catherine has been sharing her time and talents with the museum since 2011. She currently serves as Secretary on the Museum Board, serves on the Donations and Accessions Committees, and previously served as President of the Board.

In addition to her leadership roles, Catherine volunteers during museum hours several days each month, welcoming visitors and helping share the stories of Coryell County.

A true Coryell County native, Catherine’s family has called this area home since 1854 — the same year Gatesville was established! She and her husband of 65 years have raised three children, and she now enjoys keeping up with four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

When she’s not volunteering, Catherine enjoys playing bridge and spending time with the friends she has made through the museum. We are grateful for her years of service, dedication, and the warmth she brings to the Coryell Museum! 💙

Interested in becoming a volunteer? The Coryell Museum is always looking for people who enjoy history, meeting new people, and helping preserve the stories of our community. Whether you can help greet visitors, assist with projects, or lend a hand behind the scenes, we’d love to have you join our team!

Stop by the museum or reach out to learn more about how you can get involved. 🏛️✨

10/05/2026

📚 Shop Local, Read Local! 📚

Stop by our Gift Shop and check out our selection of books written by local authors! From local history to stories inspired by the people and places around us, there’s something for every reader. ❤️

👀 Check out this review submitted by J. Hansdrough Brown

The Wizards of Os tells the story of Medical Plastics Laboratory (MPL) in Gatesville (now Laerdal) and the remarkable men who, in 1953 and with incredible foresight, ingenuity, integrity, and grit, created one of the most unique businesses in American medicine. The book is an easy afternoon read with thoughtful insights into the minds of the founders, Dr. Ellworth Lowrey, his younger brother, Dr. Wendell Lowrey, and their close friend, dentist Dr. Tom Williams, as well as the incredible people who helped make their vision a reality.
After settling their physician father’s estate following WWII, the two brothers made their homes in Gatesville and befriended Dr. Williams. At the time, the men recognized that there was a shortage of skeletons for both their practice and in education. A lunch meeting and plans laid out on a napkin led to decades of innovation, not only in medicine, but in entrepreneurship, as well. Soon after, the friends were manufacturing their first plastic full-body skeleton. Setbacks, stubborn insistence on perfection, and genius ideas led to remarkable advances as they expanded and hired brilliant men and women to help.
Barr has presented the story well, at a quick and easy pace with many photographs. Today, Laerdal manufactures a catalog of cutting-edge anatomical teaching aids unparalleled in the world and ships their inventory across the planet.

Come pick up your copy of The Wizards of Os at our gift shop!

10/01/2026

🏈 Can you guess what this is? 🤔

(Hint: It’s football season! 🏈)

Drop a comment with your guess!

Want to see football history up close? Come by the Coryell Museum and check out these pieces for yourself! We can’t wait to see you. 🏛️✨

09/29/2026

🏈 It’s football season! Did you know that our own Coach Lloyd Mitchell of the Mitchell Spur Collection coached NFL great Cotton Davidson at Gatesville High School?

Davidson was the primary weapon in Coach Mitchell’s offense, helping lead the Hornets to a 6-1-1 record in 1948. A two-time all-district tailback and standout in four sports, Davidson went on to star as a quarterback at Baylor, play professionally with the Baltimore Colts, Dallas Texans, and Oakland Raiders, and earn MVP honors in the first AFL All-Star Game in 1962.

Want to learn more about this Gatesville football legend? The Coryell Museum Gift Shop has the book “Cotton Davidson – The Rifleman of the AFL” available. Come by and check it out! 🏈📖

09/23/2026

🤠 Did you ever wonder how Gatesville became the Spur Capital of Texas?

The story goes back to the early 2000s and began with a conversation about an idea for Gatesville that could help attract visitors and tourism to our community.

Not long after the Coryell Museum received the Lloyd Mitchell Spur Collection, local businessmen Fred Daschofsky and Dan Rufino began discussing a theme that could put Gatesville on the map. They came up with the idea of making Gatesville known as the Spur Capital of Texas.

They took the idea to then-State Representative Sid Miller, who embraced it and drafted a resolution recognizing Gatesville as the Spur Capital of Texas.

House Concurrent Resolution 197 (HCR 197) passed both the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate without opposition.

Then, in June 2001, Governor Rick Perry officially designated Gatesville as the Spur Capital of Texas.

Today, when you see the Spurs of Gatesville celebrated throughout our community, remember that it all started with an idea: What could make Gatesville special and give people a reason to come visit?

Sometimes, the best community stories begin with a simple conversation. 🤠

Come visit the Coryell Museum and learn more about the history behind Gatesville's claim as the Spur Capital of Texas!

09/19/2026

Thank you to all who visited us today for Spurfest and Congratulations to all the raffle winners!!