Touring Museum of South Texas History in Edinburg, TX

Wednesday afternoon we headed up to Edinburg, TX to take a look at the Museum of South Texas History.  When I say we headed up, you would think we were off to some distant place but all the towns in the Rio Grande Valley are more or less connected without a break so as Sue said "If you are in Mission, you aren't Pharr from McAllen."  Everyone is checking out the "Where in the World Are You From?" board.  There were lots of push pins all over.

The museum opened in 1970 as the Hidalgo County Historical Museum housed in the 1910 Hidalgo County Jail.  The Jail itself is a Texas State Historical Landmark.  Unfortunately for us, it is currently being restored.  It seems the ground wasn't as stable and solid as it should have been when it was being built so now it needs to be shored up from below.  The name of the museum changed in 2003 to better represent the scope of it's mission to preserve and present the borderland heritage of South Texas and northeastern Mexico.  The museum has a unique collection of historically significant objects and archival material.  Much of the material is shown through exhibits.

There was a short presentation near the beginning of the exhibits which most of us watched.

There was an exhibit showing the produce the Valley is known for.  Looks almost real doesn't it?

We started in the River Crossroads Exhibit.  Here Sue, Margareta, and Vicki are checking out the early irrigation equipment.

This shows the gates letting the water into the irrigation canals.

This early car came complete with engine sounds but MaryJane said she didn't remember them being that quiet!

This is the Old Jail which is currently closed from viewing but they did have an exhibit with items from the Jail in the main building.

It was nice to see the items set up in a natural type exhibit.

The Saddle Maker shop had more guns and rifles than saddles and boots on display.

There was even an RV in this display.   Can you find it?

Then we went upstairs to a different type of exhibit.  As you can see, my friend Birdie made it to the Valley in time to meet us here.

This exhibit was right over our heads.

We moved on into the River Frontier.  Hmmmm, very early visitors.

The Jacal (ha-CAHL) was an earlier type of frontier home in New Spain.

Other homes were less permanent.

The museum was interesting to visit.  Later on, we headed to Milano's for dinner.  The obligatory group photo and I even managed to get Carolyn in it.

This is a little of the history of how the restaurant was started by immigrants from Italy.

l to r - Rhonda, Carolyn, Sharon (hidden), Sue, Vicki, MaryJane, Margareta, Debbie, Birdie, Diana, and Darlene.

Birdie, Diana, Darlene, Martha, Pat, Gloria, Rhonda, Carolyn, and Sharon.

Sharon is a desert lover so she ordered Bananas Flambe which they fixed next to the table.

Whoosh!

Dinner was very good.  Always keep an eye on your credit card bills when you are with a large group to make sure they don't get mixed up when they go to get run through the machine.  Fortunately, I caught it and got it straightened out quickly.