Archive & Artifact Collections
From mammoth bones to conjunto tunes, the Museum of South Texas History collects, preserves, and exhibits material relating the distinctive history and heritage of the lower Rio Grande region, along with the adjoining regions of South Texas and northeastern Mexico.
The museum's Margaret H. McAllen Memorial Archive holds an extensive collection of regional items, including maps, newspapers, books, genealogical material, audiovisual and digital material, and the largest collection of historical photographs within the lower Rio Grande Valley. The archive's holdings are a source of inspiration for the museum's exhibitions as well as for students, scholars, and others who conduct research here.
The museum's three-dimensional holdings strongly reflect the region's ranch tradition, which developed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the agricultural boom that began with the arrival of railroads and irrigation in the early twentieth century.
The museum's armament and military holdings reflect the region's frontier history and its important location during conflicts such as the Texas Revolution, Mexican War, Civil War, French intervention in Mexico, and the Mexican Revolution. The region's prehistory and Spanish colonial history are represented in the collections, also.
Collections of late twentieth century and contemporary material document the borderland region's growing, multifaceted economy and multicultural society.
The museum continues to acquire significant material from prehistoric, historic, and contemporary eras of South Texas and northeastern Mexico. For more information about donating to the museum, see our Donation FAQ.