Medicine in 

The Big Thicket

1880-1920

Medical practices of the 1800's when doctors used plants and herbs, as well as medication.

Pioneer Guns

"Anyone can shoot a deer, but it takes a man to shoot a varmit."  Ben Lilly, Bear and Lion Hunter circa 1900.

Antique guns from southeast Texas for hunters and lawmen.

Ghost Towns of SE Texas

The Timber Boom (1880-1940) and the Oil Book (1900-1930) has left dozens of ghost towns in SE Texas. Learn more about them.

1820 Flatboat

Visit a life-size 1820 Flatboat, built inside the main gallery and learn the story of their use in settling East Texas.

Ice Wagon

A 1902 Studebaker wagon in front of a 1920's house illustrates the ice delivery wagons in Silsbee 1900-1950.

Ice Plant Exhibit

A room in the Ice House Museum, stripped to original features, explains the  manufacture of ice in this building 95 years ago. 

Predators of The Big Thicket

Before 1920, predators prowled this area in enormous quantities. Bear, Wolves, Cougars, Panthers. 

1621

Before America and before Texas, there was a forest, a culture, a people unlike anything we ever knew.  Spanish Explorers explored and we evolved....

Connie Bates: an Artist's Perspective

Sketches of early Silsbee exhibited with photos of the sites today showing their locations.

Quilt Exhibit

The exquisite quilts of Melinda Stanton photographed by Michelle Esclovan in two vintage homes. 

Spellbound by The Big Thicket

Award-winning local photographer Michelle Esclovan brings the Big Thicket to life in breath-taking photography.

Peach Tree

Village

John Henry Kirby was born in this beautiful and historic corner of SE Texas.

Old Silsbee

Silsbee was created as a result of a big Business Deal between John Henry Kirby and Nathaniel Silsbee. See how it came about, and what it was like.

Out of the Shadows

Original tintype photography from 1875-1900 of people from Southeast Texas are exhibited next to a life-size, Photoshopped enlargement which brings  the faded images to life and "out of the shadows."

The Kirby Parlor

The Timber Boom (1880-1940) and the Oil Book (1900-1930) has left dozens of ghost towns in SE Texas. Learn more about them.

1920 Kitchen

An authentic 1920 kitchen, with an icebox, wood burning stove, possum belly cabinet, tools, sink and utilities, housed in the 1920's house behind the Ice Wagon.