Cuero Heritage Museum
The Cuero Heritage Museum was established
in March 1993 by the Cuero City Council for the purpose of
preserving and promoting the rich history of the City of Cuero.
The museum is housed in a beautiful old building that was built in
1915 and served as the United States Government Post Office until
1969. This building is listed on both the State and the National
Historic Register, and is included in Cuero’s commercial historic
district.
A new Post Office was built in 1969 and the remaining Federal
offices gradually moved to other locations leaving the building
vacant by 1987. In 1991, the people of the City of Cuero, through
its City Council, petitioned the General Services Administration of
the Federal Government for title to the building. The petition was
granted with the restriction that the building be used for historic
purposes.
The Cuero Heritage Museum has displayed several memorable exhibits,
including artifacts from La Salle’s ship LaBelle, Cowhands,
Charles Schorre and the Schwietz brothers who were artists from
Cuero, and a tribute to Cuero’s contribution to the WWII effort,
Brayton Field.
Currently on display at the museum is Cuero Talks Turkey, an
exhibit chronicling the first years of the famous Cuero Turkey Trot
celebration. The exhibit includes many wonderful old photographs of
the events that took place as thousands of visitors watched thousands
of turkeys parade down the streets of Cuero. Also on display are
costumes worn by the Sultans and Sultanas and Turkey Trot Royalty,
and many other items of memorabilia.
The Cuero Heritage Museum is also hosting "Photographs & Paragraphs,"
an exhibit leased from the Institute of Texan Cultures in San
Antonio, on display from October 9, 2003 to March 31, 2004. The
Cuero Heritage Museum collaborated with the Cuero Chamber of
Commerce, the Cuero Cultural & Heritage Foundation, and the Chisholm
Trail Heritage Museum to bring the exhibit to Cuero. The exhibit
pairs historic photographs taken in South Texas in the late 19th
century by I. N. Hall, with writings by famed author O. Henry, who
spent a third of his life in Texas.
The museum is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1 p.m.-5 p.m.,
and on the first and third Saturdays of each month from 10 a.m.-2 p.m..
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