THE RUSSELL McCURDY WING

The Russel McCurdy Wing was built in 1962 and was named by Mrs. Lamar for her long friendship with Russell McCurdy.

The McCurdy Wing is the home and family living area and includes typical pioneer home furnishings, china, Women of Crosby County portraits, handcrafted quilts and needle work, as well as early business and professional tools and trades.

Also in the McCurdy Wing is a reconstructed "half dugout," built and furnished in a manner typical to those used by the first families who settled on the Texas Plains between 1876 and 1910.

Here are a few examples of exhibits you will see in the this wing:

TEN TO ONE: LOOKING FOR A WIFE: Women were a luxury in the settlement of West Texas. Ten men to one woman was the ratio of the sexes. Many men married back east and came west with their new brides to carve out a life in a hostile world. However, there was a phenomena, dubbed "MAIL ORDER BRIDES", for men who did not pursue the accepted means of selecting a wife.

DUGOUTS: Shelters dug into the side of a hill to the depth of four feet had an above ground segment constructed of cottonwood poles and branches. Buffalo hides often formed the roof and door. This type of shelter was used by Comancheros (traders), ciboleros (buffalo hunters), and pastores (sheep herders). Later ranchers, cowboys and other settlers found a dugout to be a satisfactory temporary shelter. How would you manage?

CHILDREN WORKED: Children worked beside their parents in the fields in the early decades of the 20th century. Schoolwork was forgotten and long hours of strenuous labor in all types of weather took precedence over the formal education of most children. When they finally did return to the classroom, many were behind their classmates and some dropped out with minimal or no reading skills.