List of museums in the Texas Gulf Coast

The list of museums in the Texas Gulf Coast encompasses museums defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical interest and make their collections or related exhibits available for public viewing. Museums that exist only in cyberspace (i.e., virtual museums) are not included. Also included are non-profit art galleries and exhibit spaces.

Texas Gulf Coast

Counties included are Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Orange, Walker, Waller, and Wharton County, Texas.

Museums

Austin - Brazoria counties

+Museum name ImageCityCountyNotesRefsAustin County Jail MuseumBellville AustinRecorded Texas Historic Landmark; San Felipe de Austin State Historic SiteSan FelipeAustinSite of 1823 Stephen F. Austin colony; Alden B. Dow Office MuseumLake JacksonBrazoriaOperated by the Lake Jackson Historical Association, Alden B. Dow was Lake Jackson's building designer; Alvin Historical MuseumAlvinBrazoriaOperated by the Alvin Museum SocietyAmmon Underwood House West Columbia Brazoria1830s period house. National Register ListingBrazoria County Historical Museum AngletonBrazoriaRecorded Texas Historic Landmark, National Register of Historic Places; ; Brazoria Historical MuseumBrazoriaBrazoriaArea history dating back to the Karankawa peopleBrazoria County Military MuseumRichwoodBrazoriaThe restored 1897 Brazoria County Courthouse is currently used to house the Brazoria museum Brazos Valley Railroad SocietyBrazoriaBrazoriaHO model scale train layout and museum, open on SaturdaysBrazosport Center for the Arts & SciencesCluteBrazoriaBrazosport Art League, Brazosport Center Stages community theater, Brazosport Museum of Natural Science, BASF Planetarium, and Brazosport Symphony OrchestraBrazosport Museum of Natural ScienceCluteBrazoriaFeatures shells, fossils, dinosaur skeletons, wildlife, rocks & minerals and archeology, part of the Brazosport Center for the Arts & SciencesColumbia Historical Museum West ColumbiaBrazoriaFreeport Historical MuseumFreeportBrazoriaDiscovery Dome Planetarium, Children's Museum; Karpeles Manuscript MuseumAlvinBrazoriaPart of a larger United States collection, allegedly "the world's largest private holding of important original manuscript documents"; Lake Jackson Historical Museum Lake Jackson BrazoriaPrehistoric era, the plantation era, area's petrochemical industry and the founding of modern Lake Jackson; Levi Jordan Plantation State Historic SiteBrazoriaBrazoriaAntebellum plantation, site under development and only open to the public on a limited basis and by appointment, includes the plantation house aSurfside Beach Historical MuseumSurfside BeachBrazoriaIndependence era replicas and artifactsMarguerite Rogers House MuseumAlvinBrazoriaOperated by the Alvin Museum Society Varner–Hogg Plantation State Historical Site West ColumbiaBrazoriaRecorded Texas Historic Landmark. National Register Listing of historic places;

Chambers - Fort Bend counties

+Museum name ImageCityCountyNotesRefsAgricultural Historical MuseumWinnieChambersOpen by appointment, includes tractors, farming equipment, photos, Winnie Santa Fe DepotChambers County Museum at WallisvilleWallisvilleChambers Barbers Hill / Mont Belvieu MuseumMont BelvieuChambersLocal historyBaytown Historical MuseumBaytownChambersWallisville Heritage Park and MuseumWallisville ChambersAlley Log Cabin MuseumColumbusColoradoAbram (or Abraham) Alley built this cabin as part of the Stephen F. Austin Old Three Hundred colorization of Mexican Texas; Confederate Memorial MuseumColumbusColoradoBuilt 1883 by town of Columbus, using over 400,000 handmade bricks. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark; Heritage Society Museum of WeimarWeimarColoradoHoused in the Old Hill Bank buildingLive Oak Art CenterColumbusColoradoContemporary artPrairie Edge MuseumEagle LakeColoradoLocal area culture; Mary Elizabeth Hopkins Santa Claus MuseumColumbusColoradoCollected 1913-1990 by Mary Elizabeth Youens Hopkins; Tate-Senftenberg-Brandon HouseColumbusColorado19th-century house with furnishings depicting small-town life a century ago, operated by the Columbus Historical Preservation Trust; Art Museum TXKatyFort BendEstablished in 2020, Art Museum TX is a not-for-profit institutionArt Museum TXSugar LandFort BendEstablished in 2020, Art Museum TX is a not-for-profit institutionBlack Cowboy MuseumRosenbergFort BendEstablished in 2017, THE BLACK COWBOY MUSEUM TX is a not-for-profit institutionFort Bend Heritage Unlimited MuseumKendletonFort BendFort Bend MuseumRichmond Fort BendIncludes the museum, Long-Smith Cottage, 1883 John M. and Lottie D. Moore House, and the McFarlane HouseFort Bend County Heritage Unlimited MuseumKendletonFort Bend Lifestyles of African American settlers and residents from 1865 to 1965The Old Foster Community MuseumFoster Fort BendLocal historyGeorge Ranch Historical ParkRichmondFort BendRecorded Texas Historic Landmark. 20,000 acre working ranch featuring historic homes, costumed interpreters and livestock; Houston Museum of Natural Science at SugarlandSugar LandFort BendLocated in Telfair, exhibits on paleontology, space, life and earth scienceJohnny Nelson Katy Heritage MuseumKatyFort BendIncludes farming equipment, agricultural and pioneering history artifacts, photographs and antiquesKaty Heritage ParkKatyFort BendOperated by the Katy Heritage SocietyKaty Heritage Society Railroad MuseumKatyFort BendKaty Veterans Memorial MuseumKatyFort BendArtifacts from every foreign conflict involving the United StatesRosenberg Railroad MuseumRosenbergFort BendIncludes a railroad tower, rail cars, model train layoutSugar Land Heritage FoundationSugar LandFort BendHistory of the sugar industry in Texas

Galveston County

+Museum name ImageCityCountyNotesRefsAshton VillaGalvestonGalveston National Register of Historic Places, built in 1859 by businessman James Moreau Brown; ; ;Bishop's PalaceGalvestonGalveston Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, National Register of Historic Places, Built in 1888 for politician Walter Gresham, later sold to the Houston Diocese of the Catholic Church as a residence for Bishop Christopher Edward Byrne; Bryan MuseumGalvestonGalveston Museum works from the collection of J.P. Bryan, direct descendant of early settler Moses Austin; Butler Longhorn MuseumLeague CityGalvestonTexas Longhorn history through art, music and artifactsThe CradleGalvestonGalvestonBirthplace of the Daughters of the Republic of TexasDickinson Historic Railroad CenterDickinson GalvestonArtifacts and memorabilia, Dickinson Railroad Depot, the League City Railroad Depot, and the grounds surrounding those depots; Frank J. Brown Heritage Museum and BarnFriendswoodGalvestonReconstructed early 1900s Quaker home with furniture and artifacts. Maintained by the Friendswood Historical Society. Frank J. Brown was one of two 1895 Quaker leaders who established Friendswood, the other being T. Hadley Lewis. ; Galveston Arts CenterGalvestonGalveston Non-profit; Galveston County MuseumGalvestonGalveston Galveston Historic SeaportGalvestonGalvestonNational Register of Historic PlacesGalveston Railroad MuseumGalvestonGalvestonRailroad - includes rolling stock, model trains, devastation caused by Hurricane Ike, maps, railroad jargon, pictures from the Southern Railroad and the Panama Railway exhibit, railroad dining cars and china ; Galveston Naval MuseumGalvestonGalvestonHome to the USS CAVALLA (WWII Submarine) and the USS STEWART (destroyer escort - one of only 3 in the world); Michel B. Menard HouseGalvestonGalveston1838 house, operated by the Galveston Historical Foundation Moody MansionGalvestonGalvestonRecorded Texas Historic Landmark, National Register of Historic PlacesMoody GardensGalvestonGalvestonIncludes Discovery Pyramid with traveling exhibits about science and space, Rainforest Pyramid with animals and plants, and the Aquarium Pyramid Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & MuseumGalvestonGalvestonHistory and technology of the area offshore oil and gas industryOld Kemah School Museum and Old Railroad Station MuseumKemahGalvestonRosenberg Library MuseumGalvestonGalvestonRecorded Texas Historic LandmarkSeawolf ParkGalvestonGalvestonIncludes the submarine USS Cavalla (SS-244), the ASW destroyer escort USS Stewart (DE-238), and the remains of a merchant shipTexas City MuseumTexas CityGalveston; Texas Seaport MuseumGalvestonGalvestonIncludes the three-masted barque ElissaWest Bay Common School Children's Museum League CityGalvestonManaged by the League City Historical Society

Harris County