Event Calendar Upcoming

Museums

Historic & Culture

Santa Fe Depot & Museum

Santa Fe Depot & Museum
Overview

The Santa Fe depot is an historical landmark and museum. In the story of Gainesville, there is probably not a more significant historic and cultural structure, as it brought supplies, settlers, culture, and trade to what would become Cooke County. See the website below to learn more.

When settlers, families, business people, and culturalists stepped of their train cars, their shoes met the platform at the Santa Fe depot. The first barbed wire in Texas was shipped out of the depot and many stories have centered their new chapters around this historic platform.

Santa Fe Depot & Museum gallery photo
Santa Fe Depot & Museum gallery photo

The Morton Museum

The Morton Museum
Overview

The Morton Museum preserves the history of Gainesville through exhibits, memorabilia, and records tracing the history of Gainesville back to its early settling. Even the building itself has a significant history in Gainesville. See the website below for more details.

Housed in an 1884 building in downtown Gainesville, the Morton Museum possesses a proud past. Opened in 1968 as a result of dedicated citizens wishing to save it from demolition, the building itself is its own best exhibit. Originally erected as Gainesville’s
combination city hall, fire station and calaboose, the preservation and restoration of the structure was made possible by Granville and Gladys Morton.

Services
In addition to being open to the public to explore, the museum maintains a photographic collection of material for researchers to utilize. A staff person is available to aid interested individuals in genealogy research.