Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
Encyclopedia
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. The museum is a division of the Texas State Preservation Board
Texas State Preservation Board
The Texas State Preservation Board is a state agency that maintains the Texas Capitol, the General Land Office Building, and the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. It has its headquarters in Suite 950 in the Sam Houston State Office Building in Downtown Austin.The 68th Legislature of Texas...
. Its stated mission is to tell "the Story of Texas."
The history museum is named after former Texas Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor of Texas
The Lieutenant Governor of Texas is the second-highest executive office in the government of Texas, a state in the U.S. It is the second most powerful post in Texas government because its occupant controls the work of the Texas Senate and controls the budgeting process as a leader of the...
Bob Bullock
Bob Bullock
Robert Douglas Bullock, known as Bob Bullock , was a Democratic politician from Texas, whose career spanned four decades. His service culminated in his term as Lieutenant Governor of Texas from January 15, 1991–January 19, 1999 during the terms of Governors Ann Richards and George W...
, who championed its creation. The museum is located at 1800 North Congress Avenue in Austin
Austin, Mississippi
Austin is an unincorporated community in Tunica County, Mississippi, United States.Austin was the third community to serve as county seat of Tunica County, from 1847-1888. In 1888, Tunica became the fourth and current seat of Tunica County. Earlier county seats were Commerce and Peyton ....
, a few blocks north of the Texas State Capitol
Texas State Capitol
The Texas State Capitol is located in Austin, Texas, and is the fourth building to be the house of Texas government in Austin. It houses the chambers of the Texas Legislature and the office of the governor of Texas. It was designed originally during 1881 by architect Elijah E. Myers, and was...
. The museum has three floors of interactive exhibits; the first floor theme is "land," the second floor theme "identity," and the third floor theme "opportunity." The Texas Spirit Theater on the second floor has 200 seats and three screens and is used as a multimedia special effects theater, playing two shows daily. The museum also has an IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
theater, the only one in Austin. The theater seats 400 and has a projector
Movie projector
A movie projector is an opto-mechanical device for displaying moving pictures by projecting them on a projection screen. Most of the optical and mechanical elements, except for the illumination and sound devices, are present in movie cameras.-Physiology:...
with both 2-D and 3-D
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
capability.
Construction broke ground on April 15, 1999 at a cost of US$750 million. Construction management services were provided by Thos. S. Byrne, Ltd. The museum opened on San Jacinto Day
San Jacinto Day
San Jacinto Day is the celebration of the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. It was the final battle of the Texas Revolution where Texas won its independencefrom Mexico....
, April 21, 2001.
In 2002, the Texas historian Walter L. Buenger
Walter L. Buenger
Walter Louis Buenger is an historian of Texas and the American South and, since 2003, the head of the department of history at Texas A&M University in College Station.-Background:...
wrote an article on the new museum entitled "The Story of Texas: The Texas State History Museum and Memories of the Past," in Southwestern Historical Quarterly.