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Sam Houston Regional Library & Research Center
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Now on ExhibitThe 1848 Gillard-Duncan
House The 1883 Norman
House The Jean and
Price Daniel House Previously on ExhibitHooves and
Heritage Stories from the Sam Houston CenterPapers of Rep.
Martin Dies Women Who Made
a Difference William Waldo Partlow:
He Made the Supreme Sacrifice Charles Nutter
Smith: A Community Leader Elmer Woodard
Boyt: Industrialist, Rice Farmer and Stockman Getting Here: Located three miles north of Liberty Texas, the Sam Houston Center is approximately 200 miles east of Austin or just 41 northeast of Houston. Travel US Highway 90 east to State Highway 146 north, then exit on FM 1011. Road signs show directions to the Center. Our mailing address is PO Box 310, Liberty, TX 77575-0310 and our telephone number is 936-336-8821. Museum Division: In its museum capacity, the Center features exhibits on a variety of Southeast Texas topics. Special collections include the papers of Governor Price Daniel; the Julia Duncan Welder Collection of private letters and artifacts; and the Jean Houston Baldwin Collection of Sam Houston images, the largest known collection of photographs and illustrations of the Texas hero. In addition, three historic structures have been relocated onto the Center's grounds. Two of them, the restored 1848 Gillard-Duncan House and the 1883 Norman House, are open to the public. The third, the 1898 St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, is being renovated for use as a meeting facility. History: The Sam Houston Center is a direct result of a community and area wide effort to preserve its history. On September 27, 1973, Judge and Mrs. Price Daniel donated 114 acres for the building site. Local sponsorship and fund raising was organized by the Atascosito Historical Society with Charles W. Fisher, Jr. as President and by the building committee, cochaired by Ambassador Edward Clark and Mrs. Camilla Davis Blaffer Trammel from 1973 to 1976. The Lamar University Board of Regents voted on November 7, 1973 to join as regional sponsors. In 1975 the centers construction was named as a Texas State Library American Bicentennial Project. By the fall of 1975 when construction began over $700,000 was raised from private donations. The majority of the funds were given by the following: The M.D. Anderson Foundation; The Family of E. W. Boyt; the Cullen Foundation; Governor and Mrs. Price Daniel; Will Daniel, Ann Daniel Rogers, Sue Daniel Parker and Dani Daniel Haberle; Mrs. Wirt Davis; The Mary Gay Trust; Mr. Fred Hartman; The Houston Endowment; The Humphreys Foundation; Mrs. Triphene Middleton and John Middleton; The Moody Foundation; Mr. & Mrs. Allen Neyland; Miss Miriam Partlow; the Family of Governor Ross Sterling; Thomas A. Wheat, Jr. and John Nixon Wheat. Dedicated and opened on May 14, 1977, the modern archival facility has 17,600 square feet divided into classrooms, offices, exhibit areas and the archives. The building has modern environment controls and a Halon fire suppression system. The Center is owned and operated by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Why Liberty? Two reasons led to Liberty as the site for the Southeast Texas regional center: It is the location of the 1756 Spanish outpost of Atascosito, which
became the seat of government for the present ten-county area in
1826, with name of town and district changed to Liberty in 1831.
All or portions of the ten counties were carved from the Atascosito-Liberty
District. Regional Support: Original sponsorship of the project was furnished by the Atascosito Historical Society which has members from not only the ten county region, but throughout the United States. The society serves as the Friends of the Sam Houston Center contributing funds for special events and acquisitions which otherwise would not be possible. |
 
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