Historic Village Happenings

September 2023 : Volume 1, Issue 1 Buffalo Gap Historic Village

Welcome to Our First Newsletter!

We hope you will enjoy periodic updates from the Buffalo Gap Historic Village. This is being sent to our members, educators, guests, civic leaders, and others who have previously expressed an interest in the history of Taylor County, heritage tourism, or our activities. Feel free to pass it along to others!

You can safely and easily unsubscribe with the link at the bottom of this page – but we do hope you’ll give us a try first. We’ll never sell your email address and will keep our email communications to a minimum. For more frequent updates or the status of upcoming events, please follow us here on Facebook. (Our old page is inactive, so be sure to follow this new one!)

Village Feature:

Original County Courthouse

The Buffalo Gap Historic Village features actual buildings from the last fifty years of the “West Texas Frontier” – roughly from the 1880s through the 1920s. But the only building in its original location is the Courthouse, which is the most iconic feature of the Village. It was built in 1878 when Buffalo Gap was declared the original county seat of Taylor County. Just five short years later, the county seat was moved to Abilene and the Courthouse was left behind. Today, it remains the oldest public building in the county.

The 2,448-sq-ft stone building cost about $8,000 to build back then. The first floor of the building housed the judge’s office and a large courtroom which is open today for visitors to admire or simply sit and contemplate life.

Upstairs was a jail cell for violent prisoners – one of the more popular views today! – along with a “run-around” cell for up to 12 less violent prisoners. That room now houses many interesting, historical artifacts our visitors enjoy browsing.

You can spend time in this amazing reflection of history, or in more than a dozen other authentic structures including a train depot, doctor’s office, barbershop, schoolhouse, and more. Come visit us soon!

Say Hi to Holly -

Our New Education Director

Education is a key focus at the Buffalo Gap Historic Village as we invite schools from a multi-county area to field trips here. And who better to oversee that than a former schoolteacher herself! Holly Woodard taught in Trent and Abilene ISDs her entire career, most recently as Family Consumer Science Teacher, and Ready, Set, Teach Coordinator at Abilene High.

At the Historic Village, she is busy updating existing programs to match current TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills) for fourth graders and recruiting retired teachers to serve as volunteers for this growing program. To learn more about field trips for your students or classrooms – click the button below.

Field Trips & More

For Your Calendar!

Our Scarecrow Festival is right around the corner. Area schools create scarecrows to display for a month at the Village before moving them to downtown Abilene. This year’s theme is “Famous Artists of the World” and we’re expecting great creativity. You can view them (and see the whole Village) at no charge on Saturday, November 4. Watch our Facebook page for more details!

New this year is a Christmas Tea. Buffalo Gap’s own English Tea Gramma will host a formal tea while discussing how early settlers tried to hold on to their former customs while embracing new frontiers. This limited-seating event will be offered both Saturday and Sunday, December 2 and 3, from 2:00 – 4:00 pm, and will feature all the traditional high tea food. Tickets will be available soon - consider buying a table and bringing you friends and family!

Send Me Tea Party Info!

Just down FM-89, our friends at Abilene State Park will be celebrating Big Country Frontier Day on Saturday, November 11. In honor of 100 years of Texas state parks, it's a free day to experience frontier re-enactments, with lots of music and family activities. While not at the Historic Village, we encourage you to check it out here, as it's a once-in-a-centennial celebration!

We hope you enjoyed the inaugural issue of our brief update. Please follow us on our new, improved Facebook page - or search for Buffalo Gap Historic Village Texas! to Like and Follow. We look forward to bringing you more information in the future!