Buffalo Gap

After visiting Frontier Village in Abilene on Fri. we decided to spend part of Saturday at the Taylor County History Center, aka Buffalo Gap Historic Village.  The Center assembled a collection of late 19th and early 20th century buildings from the town of Buffalo Gap and surrounding areas inside a wrought iron fence on about an acre of land in one corner of Buffalo Gap.

The north side of the frontier town 

 now looks like this. 

After entering the gate we visited the Mercantile/Ticket Center/Gift Shop.  

Here we met Bob and learned how the village received its name.

To the left of the Mercantile stands the Chapel,

noted for having been built by its preacher--a woman.

On the right of the Mercantile is the reason we were at Buffalo Gap--the county courthouse,

the one with the cannonballs in the corners.

Inside the door a hallway leads to the judge's office and the clerk's room.  Above them is a single jail cell used for dangerous or violent offenders.

On the right a door leads into the courtroom, with the judge's bench in front and the jury box on the right.  Above it is another room of the same size where up to 12 prisoners were incarcerated in a general population.

Also on the north side of the street is a turn of the century  house 

with a modern bathroom

and a frontier buffalo hunter's cabin

 (technically a house because it has a board floor).  The house is much shorter than the original.  It has been moved a number of times, and each time lost some of the foundation logs and the loft.

On the corner but facing west is a turn of the century house which is now used as a doctor's office.

Inside we found an impressive array of surgical equipment,

and an early x-ray machine.

Here we learned that the American Medical Association was started in 1847 and the Texas Medical Association was formed in 1853.  In 1910 doctors started using synthetic medicine, but information and education didn't reach rural areas very quickly.  In a town like Buffalo Gap, a doctor would be using patent medicines and home remedies and using a medical book printed in 1820.

Very interesting.  

Louise and Duane