History on display
Museum ensures city’s past won’t be forgotten
NEW BOSTON, Texas— Three years ago, the idea of commemorating the founding of three cities began to take shape, and on Friday those two sets of threes met in one museum.
At least 200 New Boston residents gathered in the city’s downtown for the grand opening of the Three Bostons Museum and Tourist Center.
“For years we talked about, listened about it and met about it and now here it is,” Bowie County Judge James Carlow said. “Many, many hours have been donated to make this happen.”
Texas State Rep. Gary VanDeaver agreed. “Texas is steeped in history,
but what many people don’t realize is that a lot of that history came right through New Boston,” he said.
Back in April, museum officials conducted a “soft pre-grand opening” to give interested Bowie County residents a chance to see what types of historical artifacts the museum is collecting, Museum Board President DeWayne Hardage previously said.
Earlier this year, crews finished $1 million in construction on the two-story building, which has 3,800 square feet on its first floor and 1,000 square feet upstairs—all of it paid for by the city’s hotel-motel tax.
The museum’s Board of Directors is still seeking more donations of historical items from city and county residents, as well as from former residents of the New Boston area.
Some of the more interesting artifacts the museum now contains include historical photographs, newspaper clippings, 19th century vintage furniture, lanterns, kitchen utensils, maps, chandeliers and census data, along with early 20th century radios and telephones.
The museum’s mission is to display the birth and development of the three Bostons—Old Boston, Boston and New Boston.
Besides chronicling the city’s layered history, the museum also features an area honoring the founding settlers of the original three cities, a military room that pays tribute to local military veterans, and an outside memorial listing all local and area veterans. There also is a school room focusing on the cities’ education history, as well as a concessions area.
The museum also features a state-of-theart genealogical and family research information center.
The building houses a parks and tourism office, the New Boston Chamber of Commerce, the New Boston Economic Development Corp., a screening room and a children’s play area upstairs.