Tyrell Historical Library

The Tyrrell Historical Library is located in the museum district of downtown Beaumont.  The building that houses the library was originally a church, built in 1903.  It is beautiful!  The stained glass windows are incredible.  I would have never guesses that it was a library.  Luckily, Ms. Vicki, who works at the Texas Energy Museum, told me about the library and recommended that I check it out.  I'm so glad that I did.

 

 

 

The Tyrell Historical Library specializes in Texas history and genealogy.  The Texas history collection contains biographies of Texans as well as fiction written by Texans.  Among other things, you can find city directories and yearbooks, bound periodicals about Texas history and genealogy, and an impressive art book collection.  The library offers free use of genealogy websites such as Ancestry and Heritage Quest.  Microfilm   The library also has a new digital collection that can be accessed via the Internet. 

I was hoping to be able to see some of the Spindletop documents that Ms. Vicki said was housed on the second floor, but when I asked the lady at the front desk about them she told me the library was about to close and didn't offer to tell me where to find what I wanted.  We had an hour until closing time, but I guess she thought I wanted to start some deep research or something.  ???  So, I spent the hour snooping around the genealogy section, which is located in a new building attached to the main building.  Jarrod played around on one of the genealogy websites and my mom looked around the collection in the main building.  When it was time to go, I found Peyton laying on big leather couch.  She said this library was boring to her, and wanted to stop at another one that had a children's books.  It had been a long day, so I promised to take her to our local library soon.

I would love to go back to Beaumont some day when I have more time to devote to genealogy research.  I want to learn more about my grandfather and Beaumont seems like a good place to start.  I haven't tried it yet, but I'm hoping their genealogy databases are available for off-campus use.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Gladys City Boomtown Museum pictures

Gladys City Boomtown Museum Pics on Flickr.

I have so many pictures from the Gladys City Boomtown Museum that it was too hard trying to decide which ones to share. So, I put them on Flickr so that anyone who wanted to see them, could. It's almost like a virtual tour! Just click on a picture or the link above.  You'll be directed to my photo album.

Gladys City Boomtown Museum

After visiting the Texas Energy Museum in Beaumont, we drove over the Gladys City Boomtown Museum.  Located near Lamar University, the Gladys City Boomtown Museum is a little treasure chest full of artifacts from the early 1900's, when oil was discovered under a hill called Spindletop.  The replica buildings that make up Gladys City Boomtown were built using photos taken during that time period as a reference.  Except for air conditioning in a few of the buildings (thank goodness!), each building takes you back in time, giving a glimpse of what life was like in Gladys City.  Gladys City got its name from Patillo Higgins, naming it after a young girl in his Sunday School class.  The town never lived up to what Higgins had hoped it would become, an industrial city much like those he had visited in Pennsylvania.

Oil Derrick



Spindletop Monument



 



 

Museum Entrance



Before starting the tour of Gladys City, it is recommended that you watch a 6-minute video that give you a little history about the town.  We watched the video and then began our self-tour.  The buildings are set up like a small town with a boardwalk leading from one building to another. In the center of the "town" is a large oil derrick, sitting on a platform.  Each building has a plaque attached near its entrance, giving information about the building.  Artifacts from the early 1900's, most of which have been donated, fill each building.  My daughter was amazed with all the "weird stuff" we came across.  And, my mother enjoyed sharing stories about items that brought back memories of her childhood.  Exhibits included a saloon, a barber shop, a dry goods store, an oil exchange, a photo studio, a general store, a drug store with a soda shop and doctor's office, and a stable. 

The building that amused us all the most was the Barber's Shop.  Not only could you get a haircut, you could also have your teeth pulled or get your hair singed.  Peyton really liked the drug store because of the soda shop, but found it strange that there was a doctor's office in the same building.  Jarrod liked all the old cameras in the photo studio.  He said he saw a Kodak 1, which would have been the first Kodak camera.  My mom enjoyed all the gadgets in the general store, and I liked the home above the general store the best.

After our self-tour through all of the exhibits, we spent some time chatting with Mark Osborne, the new director of the Gladys City Boomtown Museum.  He explained that the museum is on Lamar University's campus and shared more information about Spindletop and Gladys City with us.  I shared pictures of my grandfather at Spindletop with him.  He told me that I was the second grad student from SHSU to stop by that day.  He had offered the other student a free Gladys City Coloring Book, so he said I could have one too.  Yea!  I've had a hard time finding any picture books that have to do with Spindletop, so I plan to count the coloring book as my picture book!  The drawings in the book are by Steve Cooper.  The first page gives a brief story of Spindletop and Gladys City Boomtown, and every page that follows contains pictures with short descriptions. 

There is no technology used with the exhibits, but I think technology would throw off the feel of being back in time.  The video shown before the tour is shown on a flat-screen television with a DVD.  When we were leaving, Jarrod spotted a bar code like we saw at the Houston Children's Museum posted in the gift shop.  The barcode leads you to the museum's Facebook page.

The Gladys City Boomtown Museum in Beaumont is a must see for all of those interested in Texas history.  The museum offers a glimpse of life in a bustling Texas oil boom town during the early 1900's.  Fun and educational!

Texas Energy Museum

Jarrod, Peyton and my mom were my travel buddies for my latest excursion.  I wanted to hit some museums in Beaumont, which is about a 2-hour trip from Spring.  The Texas Energy Museum was our first stop in Beaumont.  The museum shares information about petroleum science and the geology involved with it.  It also shares the history of oil discovery, production and refinery.

The Texas Energy Museum is a located in Beaumont's downtown museum district.  As we entered the museum, we were greeted by a friendly lady who was working at the front desk, Ms. Vicki.  I sparked a conversation with her about Spindletop, expressing my interests in learning more about it.  She told me that I would see a lot about Spindletop on the second floor of the museum.  I told her that we also planned to go to the Gladys City Boomtown Museum, and she said it was a really neat place.  She also suggested that I check out the Tyrrell Historical Library which was located right next to the Texas Energy Museum.  She explained that they held a lot of documents pertaining to Spindletop and the city of Beaumont.  I asked if she knew how to get to the Gladys City Boomtown Museum because we had planned to go there next.  She had some maps and told me she would mark a route for us while we walked around the museum.  Ms. Vicki then explained to us where to start on our tour and we set off to learn more.



Checking viscosity of different oils



Beginning of the Tour










Steering a tanker down
the Neches River

  

"Texas Christmas Tree"
(on its side)

Example of an oil bit

The first floor of the museum shares information about the formation and exploration of oil.  The mechanics of oil drilling is explored and refining methods are also shared.  The second floor shares more history about Spindletop.  Displays with life-size mannequins, are used for sharing the story of early oil drilling.  At first, I couldn't figure out why all the mannequins had bright-white faces until we found one that worked.  A face is projected onto the mannequin which gives it a very life-like appearance.  My mom was fascinated with how real it looked.  We sat and listened to Mr. Patillo Higgins share his story about his role in the discovery of oil at Spindletop.

 



Patillo Higgins - you can just
barely see his face



The Texas Energy Museum is great place to learn about the petroleum industry.  They offer a virtual tour of the museum on their website, along with activities for grades K-5 that have been correlated to the TEKS.  Admission is only $2 for adults, $1 for children and $1 for seniors.  If you're ever in the Beaumont area, make sure you put this on your list of things to do.  If Ms. Vicki is there, tell her I said, "Howdy!"