Frontier Texas!

Funded by the City of Abilene, TxDOT, and private donations, Frontier Texas! is a facility with two distinct but related components. One-third of the building serves as a visitor center for the Abilene area and the Texas Forts Trail, which begins and ends in Abilene. The remainder of the building is a regional history museum that focuses on the development of the Texas frontier from 1770 to 1870. The design contrasts gabled volumes of heavy masonry and metal roofs with open running porches supported by slender columns, recalling the site organization of frontier forts. The project includes 15,000 square feet of enclosed space and an additional 6,000 square feet of sheltered area, arranged to define three sides of a parade ground. This design won the AIA Dallas Chapter Design Merit Award in 2005. Frontier Texas! uses state-of-the-art technology to create an interactive experience, allowing visitors to relive the Old West. The museum features life-sized holographic figures and multimedia exhibits that tell the stories of the people who lived and died on the Texas frontier. Visitors can experience events such as a buffalo stampede and a Comanche raid, providing a vivid and immersive historical experience​.