Current Exhibits

Temporary Exhibits

Bell County in Images
On exhibit through June 2024

The Weldon Cannon and Patricia Benoit Collection features rarely before seen photographs, postcards, and artifacts from the history of Bell County.

The exhibit also includes interactive elements for kids of all ages.

Natural Landscapes
On exhibit through June 2024

The exhibit features beautiful photography by Leland Gersbach. The images were taken across the country and in Canada and Iceland showing the beautiful natural art of our world. The exhibit is displayed in the Harrison Auditorium and the West Gallery walkway.

This exhibit includes an interactive scavenger hunt for visitors of all ages.

Permanent Exhibits

Discover Bell County

Located in our 1904 Historic Carnegie Library, this exhibit takes visitors on a journey through Bell County History. Explore four themes of Bell County's past: The Land, Agriculture and Ranching, Transportation and Industry, and Education and Culture. Each theme covers part of the story of Bell County, Texas.

Enjoy historic photos on our interactive touchscreen, the famous Moustache Teacup Collection, paleolithic era artifacts, and more!

This exhibit features fun interactive elements for kids of all ages.

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The Gault Site: A Wealth of New Archaeological Evidence

This permanent exhibit includes large murals, discovery drawers, microscopes and the film, "The Gault Project: An Adventure in Time," funded by the Texas Historical Foundation.

The Gault Site has been home to human beings for over 13,000 years. It is strategically located in the Balcones Ecotone, the boundary zone of the Edwards Plateau and the Black Prairie/Coastal Plain Ecozone. The analysis of materials at the Gault Site provides archaeologists with a unique look into the lifestyles of the earliest people in Texas and, by extension, the earliest peoples in the Americas.

This exhibit features an interactive dig pit, a chance to be an archaeologist, a chalkboard for cave drawings, discovery drawers, and more!

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Little River Log Cabin

The Little River Log Cabin was built in the 1850s near Little River/Academy, the area of earliest Anglo settlement in Bell County. The cabin features half-dovetail notching, and was originally a “single-pen,” or one-room house, with side-facing gables.

In 1995, Grant and Jeanny Smith purchased the cabin and had it dismantled by Salado artist Lonnie Edwards. In 2001, the Smiths donated the cabin to the Bell County Museum.

The cabin is not the original size, nor are all of the stones and logs placed in their original positions. However, the logs and stones are original to the 1850s cabin.

This exhibit includes a fun interactive element for visitors of all ages.