Stop #4 on my "Super Tuesday" adventure was the Texas Forestry Museum. This fun, free, and family friendly indoor-outdoor museum describes the history of the lumber industry in east Texas and offers a balanced perspective on industry, ecology, and culture. The museum is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and also offers children's camps during the summer. The museum lobby is decorated like a commissary, a store found in a mill town that was owned by mill owners and accepted the token that the workers were payed instead of money, guaranteeing that all money eventually found its way back to the mill owner.
The museum is filled with clever design features and hands-on activities to give visitors a taste of mill life. A graphic tree design is found throughout the indoor space, decorating walls and signage. Each section is labeled by a colorful, large sign, and all wall plaques in the section match that color.
The museum hosts a wide range of artifacts, including tools and machinery; objects from daily life like a school desk, store tokens, and a scale; multiple motor vehicles; and objects made from trees, like a giant roll of paper, a model ship, and even clothing.
Additionally, the museum provided materials for hands-on activities. I created my own logging brand, made a rubbing of a mill token, and attempted to fold an origami whale. I also saw similarities between this museum and other industrial museums. For example, the letter sorting game was similar to a game at the Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket, RI. The museum also had a "Selfie Station" in front of the giant green wheel, so I could not pass up that opportunity.
The gift shop is cute, with a variety of educational toys, mugs, books, postcards, and other souvenirs. The museum also boasted a Texas Historical Commission marker and a wooden statue of a logger.
The museum continued outside. Several machines related to forest management were lined up near a playground. A short nature trail with small bridges combined colorful characters with labeled trees. There was even a photo stand-in with three cute forest animals. Unfortunately, I had no one to take my picture.
My favorite part of the outdoors was the historical train -- my second train of the day (with the first at The History Center in Diboll), and not my last.
Overall, this was another great museum about east Texas history, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the lumber industry. The museum and nature path is highly accessible, with the exception of climbing into the train, and the playful atmosphere balances the serious facts in the exhibits.