About Columbia Historical Museum

Columbia Historical Museum

The Columbia Historical Museum is located in the heart of the First Capital of the Republic of Texas. The treasured artifacts of the state’s most historic city are housed, fittingly, in a former bank – the vault of Texas history.

The museum opened its doors in the former bank in 1992 with a mission to collect, preserve and interpret the history of the area. From arrowheads to oilfields, the museum catalogs the development of Texas’ birthplace and the site of its first government.

Learn about Josiah H. Bell, Stephen F. Austin’s most trusted friend and partner. Austin left Bell in charge of his new colony when he traveled to Mexico City in 1822 to confirm his empresario grant with the new Mexican government.

In the 1820s, Bell founded the community on the Brazos River that eventually became the most important shipping port in the area – variously called Marion, Bell’s Landing or East Columbia. Bell built docks and sheds for the storage of goods delivered from steamboats. He also platted out the town of West Columbia. The museum also houses a collection of steamboat bells from those early grand modes of travel that plied the waters of the area’s rivers.

Other displays include a replica of the Dance pistol, manufactured in East Columbia during the Confederacy and described by soldiers as more accurate than the Colt.

Another exhibit tells the story of Charlie Brown, founder of Juneteenth who was declared “the wealthiest Negro in Texas” upon his death.

Explore the Vault of Texas History at the crossroads of State Highways 35 and 36, where history and progress Texas two-step.