[Austin, TX, Apr 27, 2026]
The Bullock Texas State History Museum was directly across the street from the conference venue. I couldn’t help but utilize a lunch break to check the Texas-sized museum. The 4-story granite building features close to 40,000 square feet of exhibition space and a 400-seat IMAX theater with a six-story high screen! I had picked up tid bits of Texas history on my visit to the Alamo back in 2012, but I looked forward to discovering the rest!
The first floor of the museum was unvelied in 2018 after a long-term renovation project. It now houses the exhibit Becoming Texas, which chronicles more than 16,000 years of Texas history. A centerpiece of this floor is the preserved hull of the French explorer ship La Belle. The ship was one of four on a mission to establish a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi river in 1865. The ship wrecked in present-day Matagorda Bay the following year and was all but forgotten until it was discovered by a team of archaeologists in 1995. The team recovered about a third of the hull and 1.8 million artifacts from the Matagorda Bay mud.
The second floor focuses on Texas history in the 19th century. Ultimately, Spain colonized present-day Texas. However, the Spanish lost it to Mexico when it declared its independence in 1821. Mexico encouraged immigration into the sparsely populated area, which lead to expansive Anglo settlement. Although Mexico had initially indicated it would allow more local control, over time it transitioned to a more centralized rule, which angered the settlers. Tensions over governance and slavery culminated into the Texas revolution, in which the battle of the Alamo in 1836 was a pivotal moment. The second floor of the museum features a replica of the Alamo’s church and told the story of the battle. Even though the Texas lost that particular battle, it served as a rallying cry to continue fighting. Texas won its independence later that year but a decade later, it joined the US in order to gain financial stability and protection from Mexico.
The third-floor exhibition galleries highlight Texas’ varied industries such as oil production, ranching and transportation. Texas was transformed by the discovery of oil in the state in 1901. It has been a leader in oil and gas ever since.
Overall, this was a great museum and I enjoyed learning more about Texas.
In the evening, I walked down to the Congress St bridge. I was hoping this time, I would get to see the famous bats that often emerge at sunset from under the bridge for their nightly feeding. They don’t come out every night, so it’s a good idea to check out the Austin Bat Refuge site for their flight prediction. My first attempt back in 2012 was unsuccessful!
We gathered on the grassy knoll on the south end of the bridge. They started coming out just 10 minutes after sunset! The steady stream of tiny little bats was indescribable. They curved around the trees and proceeded into the twilight in search for dinner. It was quite the unique experience!
