The Bastrop County Historical Society Museum
at 702 Main Street

 

The roots of the Bastrop County Historical Society museum go far deeper than its 1952 establishment...to an 1850 frame cabin built on the east bank of the Colorado River by John Cornelson. That cabin forms the central element of the present day museum.

The next chapter began in 1854, when the cabin was purchased by Joe Fehr, a furniture and cabinet maker. Mr. Fehr built an addition on the north side with bricks made by the Lottman brick kilns in the hills east of town. The original tract extended farther to the west but was diminished by erosion in the flood of 1869 and subsequent high waters. Over the years, the building saw use as the home of a local judge, a furniture shop, the residence of a ferryboat operator, and for hay storage. The structure was pressed into service as apartments during WW II when local accommodations for those associated with nearby Camp Swift were in short supply.

The latest chapter began in 1952 when the Ladies Reading Circle created the Bastrop County Historical Society for the declared purpose of preserving and handing down to future generations "the facts, legends, stories, documents and objects of historical interest to Bastrop." One of the society's first acts was to purchase the Cornelson-Fehr property for a BCHS museum, a purchase accomplished by a personal loan of $1,600 from Earl Erhard, president of the First National Bank.

Clara Maynard—1952 chair of the Ladies Reading Circle—donated funds in 1971 for a brick addition, drainage and other property improvements. In 1978, Edwin Peterson, husband of Lee Wilbarger Peterson, funded the addition of the Wilbarger Room. In 1989, donations from local citizens financed another addition to the museum, the Memorial Room on the far north side. This year, BCHS began a major capital campaign to raise funds to renovate and repurpose Bastrop City Hall, at 802 Main, as new quarters for the museum's collection and for the Bastrop Old Town Visitor Center.

In the museum's 57-year existence, the museum has amassed a large and unique collection of artifacts—from before the city and county's founding in 1832 through the 20th century. The late 19th century exhibits include the 1887 "bird's eye view" of the city, home and commercial furnishings, Civil War relics, and the clothes and personal mementos of early citizens, including Texas Governor Joseph D. Sayers. Other exhibits include a history of the Bastrop County schools, items from the Depression era, Civilian Conservation Corp development of Bastrop State Park plus artifacts and photographs from WW II and nearby Camp Swift.

The Texas Legislature designated the building and the Old Ferry Crossing Park, to the south, as a historical shrine in 1954. In addition, the Cornelson-Fehr House was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1967, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, and designated a Bastrop Historic Landmark in 2001.

In addition to actively serving as a research facility for BCHS members, the museum draws a regular flow of visitors, more than 3,200 this year. Museum hours are Monday through Friday; 1 to 5 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday 2 to 5 p.m.; the Museum is available as well to tour groups at other times by special arrangement. Admission during the 2009 Holiday Homes Tour is free to ticket holders; admission otherwise is $2 for adults; children under 12 are free. For further information on the museum, visit http://www.bastroptexas.net/around_bastrop/bastrop_museum.htm.