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Rogers Was Treasure Trove of Historical Knowledge
By Tracy Gupton Board members of the Columbia Historical Museum are struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss...
Viola Funeral Home in Business for Nearly 90 Years
By Tracy Gupton Columbia Historical Museum Snow’s Cleaners opened for business in West Columbia in 1920, a few years...
Bailey Set to Take Helm of Museum Thursday
By Tracy Gupton The addition of Michael Bailey to the Columbia Historical Museum management team is being heralded by museum board president Naomi Smith as an important move in bringing improvements to West Columbia’s downtown museum. The hiring of Bailey as the...
Juneteenth Celebration Started in Texas
By Tracy Gupton Juneteenth is celebrated annually across the great state of Texas and beyond, but many are unaware of the event’s origins. Famed West Columbia resident Charlie Brown, the wealthiest Black man in Texas in the early 20th Century, was instrumental in...
Birth of Father’s Day Traced to West Columbia
By Tracy Gupton A direct line to the creation of Father’s Day is blurred by history. But when researching the origin of the annual holiday Americans observe in recognition of beloved dads, that line becomes more sharply focused on West Columbia, Texas. The nascent...
D-Day Turned the Tide Allies Way in WWII
By Tracy Gupton and Ben Tumlinson Columbia Historical Museum It was the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare. More than 156,000 brave young soldiers from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada stormed the nearly 50 miles of beaches of...
Never Forget These Men’s Ultimate Sacrifices
By Tracy Gupton "HE GALLANTLY GAVE HIS LIFE FOR HIS COUNTRY" is the closing sentence written on a proclamation delivered from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the parents of fallen soldier Charles Frank Ringgold in West Columbia, Texas, in 1944. Private First Class...
First Museum Scholarships Awarded to CHS Seniors
A pair of deserving seniors at Columbia High School were presented $1,000 college scholarships from the Columbia Historical Museum at the West Columbia high school's senior awards program Thursday night. Taryn Fojtik received the Emma Womack Memorial Scholarship from...
International Museum Day celebrated Thursday
Photo by Tracy Gupton Columbia Historical Museum will be hosting a special open house Thursday, May 18th, during regular business hours in celebration of the Brazoria County Museum Alliance’s “International Museum Day.” Posing with the banner that is now on display in...
WCE 4th Graders Enjoy Tour of Museum
Womack’s impact on museum immeasurable
Longtime Columbia Historical Museum director Bill Womack pictured with his grandson Carrson Karl at the West Columbia museum in happier days By Tracy Gupton Hearts are heavy among those of us who serve as members of the Columbia Historical Museum Board of Directors as...
Former Museum President Schwebel Passes Away
Former Columbia Historical Museum President and board member Donna Lyn Schwebel of West Columbia, Texas, passed peacefully next to her husband on April 18, 2023, at their second home in Rockport, Texas. Even though she has been taken away from this world, we're happy...
San Jacinto Battle occurred 187 years ago
The great monument, a huge obelisk, that can be seen miles away from the site near present day La Porte, commemorates the San Jacinto battlefield. On this day, April 21st, in 1836, the Texan army led by General Sam Houston savored the sweet taste of victory over...
New Sign Placed at WC Rosenwald School
Expressions of gratitude go out to Wade Weems for donating the new Rosenwald School sign and to Bill Womack for overseeing the installation of it this week on the grounds of the historic old schoolhouse located at the intersection of Broad Street and Clay Street in...