Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum

The museum grew out of a race against time. Hattie Anderson came to Canyon in 1920 to teach history at the normal college, saw that many of the Panhandle's first settlers were still alive, and in 1921 she and L. F. Sheffy organized the Panhandle-Plains Historical Society with faculty and students to collect their records. Through the Depression the region gave what it could, and Pioneer Hall opened in 1933. Its limestone front is carved with western scenes, plains plants and animals, and more than 75 ranch brands around the door; the building is a State Antiquities Landmark.

The collection became the largest held by any history museum in Texas, more than two million objects. Among them are Charles Goodnight's saddle and his papers, the XIT Ranch records, Quanah Parker's headdress and lance, given in 1960 by his widow Topay, and Billy Dixon's Medal of Honor, which Dixon refused to return when Congress revoked it. The two-room juniper-log headquarters of the T Anchor Ranch, built in 1877 and the oldest surviving Anglo-built structure in the Panhandle, was moved onto the grounds in 1975. The society also owns the battle ground at Adobe Walls, bought in 1923.

On March 24, 2025, West Texas A&M University, which owns the buildings, closed the museum to the public after the state fire marshal found serious safety violations. In December 2025 the university told the society it could no longer fund the building long term. Its future was unresolved in 2026.