Brownsville Heritage Complex—Home of the Stillman House Museum - Brownsville, Texas

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Brownsville Heritage Complex—Home of the Stillman House Museum - Brownsville, Texas

The city of Brownsville has history that goes back to the era of 1850 when Charles Stillman founded the community and built his house.  Today it is part of the Brownsville Heritage Complex.  It is the only historic house museum in the Rio Grande Valley that still stands on its original location with furnishing typical of the late 1800’s.  This house/museum will enable you to get a great feel of what it was like to live in this time period, at least for those that had the means to build such a stunning home.

The Children’s Heritage and Cultural Learning Center is part of the complex.  This area has a small children’s library, small rotating exhibits, and has hands-on artifacts to stimulate learning.  There is also a dress-up station so the kids can find out just what those that lived in that time wore and how comfortable (or uncomfortable) the clothing feels.  There is a small children’s exhibition space too.  The workshops proved to the community are also held in this area.

The Brownsville Heritage Museum has won the Texas Historical Commission’s Award of Merit for the quality of the museum.  It contains the history of Brownsville with photographs, maps, costumes, relics and other atifacts pertaining to live in Brownsville and the ranching area.

The Aiken Education Center was added to the complex in 2004 to have rotating exhibitions which focus on heritage and cultural arts programming.  With the rotating exhibitions the opportunity to see many aspects of life in early Brownsville are easily accessible to everyone.
  
Heritage Resource Center holds photographs, documents, textiles and objects entrusted to Brownsville Historical Association. This facility serves as a research office to assist students, scholars and the general public in the study of local history.

In March 2006, the Heritage Resource Center became the first museum and archive center in the Rio Grande Valley to offer public access to digitized collections.

The Old City Cemetery Center focuses on history, architecture, art, and folk customs of the cemetery.  As the cemetery is unique in the Rio Grande Valley and is modeled after the New Orleans cemetery, it provides a great opportunity to learn about marble art and architecture as well as the history of the people buried there.  A visit to the center will allow you to see some great artwork such as “descanos,” homemade nichos, paper art, and silk flower coronas.

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 10:00am to 4:00pm

Admission: Students & Children under 10: $2 Adults: $4

Location:
Brownsville Historical Association
1325 East Washington Street
Brownsville, Texas 78520

Phone: (956) 541-5560

Old City Cemetery Center:
Hours of Operation:
Tuesday - Saturday    10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Sunday - Monday       Closed
Free Admission / Donations Accepted

Guided Tours Every Friday at 10:00 am
$5.00 for members
$7.00 for non-members
$4.00 for groups of 15 or more

600 E Jackson St
(at the corner of 6th & Monroe)
Brownsville TX 78520
(956) 541-1167

Email:   info@brownsvillehistory.org