GENERAL INFORMATION

THE HISTORY MUSEUM, on the third floor, features an authentic recreation of a 1940s boot shop, and an array of restored period rooms, representative of life in Abilene from 1910-1948. Also in the History Museum, are historical documents, artifacts, photographs and an exhibit of a hotel room replicating those in the Hotel Grace when it was built.

The Grace Museum's Mallouf Boot shop is a recreation of local bootmaker Albert J. Mallouf's 1940s Brownwood, Texas Boot Shop. The shop features original equipment, handmade tools, samples of many types of leather, the shop's original cash register, and Mallouf boots, all set in a working environment of a brick facade and old plank flooring.

Built on a site with few natural advantages, Abilene's birth was heralded with promises of growth and prosperity. During the first town lot sale in 1881 promoters touted Abilene as "The Future Great City of West Texas." Like other towns planted by the Texas and Pacific Railroad across the expanse of Texas, Abilene was a link in the rail network and served as a transportation and commercial center for a rural, agrarian area.

As trains were modernized and able to span greater distances without refueling, many railroad towns declined or ceased to exist. Never a true "railhead," like its namesake in Kansas, Abilene, Texas survived the last two decades of the 19th century but did not flourish. Around 1900 Abilene began to distinguish itself from the numerous other towns on the T&P line.


Largely through self promotion and sheer determination the city achieved a sustained growth in the 20th century. The exhibits in The Grace History Museum trace the physical and social development of Abilene, Texas from 1900-1945 as it grew from a small railroad town to a bustling modern city. The exhibits also demonstrate how 20th century urbanization, modernization and world events shaped the lives of individuals as well as the community as a whole.