Jefferson Historical Museum

The museum occupies the old United States Post Office and Courts Building at 223 West Austin Street, a Romanesque Revival building with Greek Revival details. James H. Caster built it between 1888 and 1890, with the post office on the first floor and a federal district courtroom upstairs. The Jefferson Historical Society, organized on July 6, 1948 with 171 charter members, first opened a museum on April 1, 1949 in the Carnegie Library. When the post office moved and the court went to Marshall, a society co-founder's high bid of $8,100 won the vacant building, with the sale approved on February 4, 1965, and the society moved in that September.

The Texas Historical Commission designated it a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1966, and it joined the National Register of Historic Places on October 28, 1969. Four floors hold Civil War artifacts, antique furniture, tools and dolls, plus separate rooms and displays on African-American history, Jewish heritage, the Diamond Bessie murder case and the Caddo. Behind the building, a replica depot houses the R.D. Moses train layout.

The museum is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., though the society asks visitors to call to verify. It closes on New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Admission is not posted online, so ring (903) 665-2775 before you go.