Group Tours | Museums and Places of Interest | Historic Sites Texas Historical Shootists Society | Columbus History |  Historical Preservation Trust, Inc. 

Santa Claus Museum featuring the collection
of Mary Elizabeth Hopkins
Location: 604 Washington Street
Columbus, Texas 78934
Telephone:  979-732-5135
Website: www.santamuseum.org
Fee:    $2 per person, 12 years & older
            $1 for children ages 6-11
            Free for children under 5
Hours:  Mon and Thurs, 10am - 4pm.

Tour Option: Collections Heritage Tour (Refer to Heritage Tourism for more information on group tours)

A tribute to holiday-themed popular culture, this museum features over 1,000 representations of Santa Claus, to include such notable items as the Duncan Royale series of Santas, Thomas Nast styled artwork from the famous 19^th century American cartoonist, and figurines by Coca-Cola’s Haddon Sunbloom.  

Through interactive kiosks, videos, and  interpretive signage, visitors to the museum will learn about the history of the real St. Nicholas and how American manufacturers such as Coca Cola Company, PEZ, and JC Penny allied with writers and artists from throughout the world to create the international phenomenon known as "Santa Claus."

The exhibit comprises a remarkable collection of creatively designed figurines made from a wide variety of materials to include ceramics, gourds, glass, cast iron, plastic, wood, fabric, glass, and even a Reader’s Digest.

The 2^nd Largest Live Oak in Texas
Location: 1218 Walnut Street, across from the post office
Columbus, Texas 78934
Telephone:  979-732-5135
Fee:  No charge
Hours:  Public Space- View Daily

Tree lovers must see the Second Largest Recorded Live Oak Tree in Texas.  This massive tree is recognized by the Texas Forest Service among their “Registry of Champion Big Trees,” and is believed to be the 2nd largest in the state.  Thought to be approximately 500 years old, the tree has a score of 413 on the index scoring system, which combines the tree’s circumference, height and one-fourth of the average crown spread.  It measures 75 feet tall and 310 inches in circumference.

Wildlife Museum featuring the Collection of Preston Kyle Shatto
Location: 1002 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas 78934
Telephone:  979-732-5135
Website: www.pkswildlifemuseum.com/
Fee:  No charge
Hours:  Open for group tours by request or for general viewing on the 1^st & 3^rd Thur... 10am-2pm - Closed July & Aug.

Tour Option E: Heritage Collections

Features more than 65 different species, including Africa’s “Big Five-” elephant, rhinoceros, lion, leopard, cape buffalo- and a white rhinoceros, one of only two on exhibit in the United States. 

Colorado County Courthouse featuring a Tiffany-style stained glass dome
Location: Courthouse Square in downtown Columbus, Texas 78934
Telephone: 979-732-5135
Fee:      No charge
Hours:  Mon - Fri…… 9am-5pm

Tour Option: Frontier Heritage Tour (See Heritage Tourism)

Designed by Eugene Heiner in 1891, this building is the third courthouse erected in Columbus, with the first having been built in 1836.  

One courthouse was to be of pine harvested in Bastrop and floated down the Colorado, but high water sent the wood floating right past Columbus.  Attractions include a Tiffany-style stained glass dome in the 2^nd floor district courtroom and a Seth Thomas clock on the first floor. 

Nesbitt Memorial Library featuring the doll collection of Lee Quinn Nesbitt
Location: 529 Washington Street
Columbus, Texas 78934
Telephone: 979-732-3392
Website: www.columbustexas.net/library/ 

In addition to a vast collection of literary works and archives, the library features a collection of fine art and reproductions, and a doll collection with over 200 dolls and related artifacts, many of which were once owned by benefactor Lee Quinn Nesbitt. 

In 2003, the Library developed and sponsored the first “Live Oaks and Dead Folks” Cemetery Tour, an amusing look back at Columbus’ most interesting citizens through the eyes of history and the voices of local re-enactors.  The tour takes place annually each fall at a local cemetery. 

The Friends of the Nesbitt Memorial Library also sponsors seminars and book-signings by a number of Texas authors and historians, including Randolph B. Campbell, Barry A. Crouch, and others. In 2001, the Friends conducted the first annual Lee Quinn Nesbitt Symposium on Texas History and Culture, which featured T. R. Fehrenbach, Wolfram M. Von-Maszewski, and Joe Tom Davis. 

1883 Confederate Memorial Museum United Daughters of the Confederacy Shropshire-Upton Chapter
Location:  Southwest corner of the courthouse square Columbus, Texas 78934
Telephone:  979-732-5135
Fee: $1 per person
Hours:  Open for group tours by request or for general viewing:
Mon & Thurs…… 10am-3pm
Fri………........…… 10am-4pm
Sat.………......….. 10am-2pm

Tour Option B: Frontier Heritage

Housed in the city’s original water tower the building now resembles a castle turret (see picture at the top of this page). This museum includes unusual historic items from throughout Colorado County, to include ladies’ mourning jewelry, rare china, military uniforms, and a three-barrel shotgun.

Colorado River Mural Project featuring tile mural by local schoolchildren
Location: Memorial Park [ 2 acres ], Legion Drive at Veterans Drive, just south of Hwy-90, Columbus, Texas 78934
Telephone: 979.732.8385

In the summer of 2003, the children of Columbus and a local artist began work on the Colorado River Mural Project, a whimsical quilt of hand-painted, six-inch clay tiles reflecting life forms in the Colorado River.  Once completed, the tiles of fish, turtles, snakes and water birds were combined with Johnson’s more refined work to depict an overall image. Today, the outdoor mural hangs alongside the Columbus municipal swimming pool in Memorial Park. 

St. John’s Episcopal Church featuring work by early Texas artist Fannie Darden
Location: 915 Travis Street
Columbus, Texas 78934
Telephone: 979-732-2590
Website: www.stjohncolumbus.org/index.html

The earliest Episcopal worship service known to have been held in Columbus occurred in 1848. At that time services were held infrequently, conducted by clergy traveling through the area.  Property at the site of the current church was purchased in 1906 with proceeds from the will of Mrs. Fannie Amelia Dickson Darden (1829-1890) and money raised by The Ladies Guild. 

Darden, an early Texas writer and painter, produced numerous novelettes, short stories, and paintings and taught art at Colorado College in Columbus after it opened in 1857.  Many of her paintings had religious themes.  Her painting, The Good Shepherd, currently hangs in the church’s Parish Hall.