Qualla: Museum of the Big Bend https://qualla.com/museum-of-the-big-bend en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:03 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/q/k/museum-of-the-big-bend-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Museum of the Big Bend https://qualla.com/museum-of-the-big-bend Museum of the Big Bend: Introduction https://qualla.com/museum-of-the-big-bend/ Photo credit Nzeemin, CC BY-SA 3.0. On the campus of Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, a museum chronicles 130 million years of history in one of America's most dramatic landscapes. The Museum of the Big Bend was built by the Works Progress Administration in 1937, part of Texas's centennial celebration marking 100 years of independence from Mexico. Today, the museum houses fossils from the age of dinosaurs to the age of mammals, one of the largest collections of Texas maps in the state, and devotional paintings on tin that speak to the region's deep cultural ties to Mexico. In 2023, an $11 million expansion doubled the museum's size, bringing new attention to this remarkable repository of Big Bend history.

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/q/k/museum-of-the-big-bend-wp/9tqk-museum-of-the-big-bend-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Museum of the Big Bend: A Centennial Gift https://qualla.com/museum-of-the-big-bend/ Photo credit Nzeemin, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 1935, the Texas Legislature created the Texas Centennial Commission to organize celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of Texas independence. The commission allocated funds for a museum on the Sul Ross State University campus in Alpine, and the Works Progress Administratio...

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Image: Nzeemin | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/q/k/museum-of-the-big-bend-wp/9tqk-museum-of-the-big-bend-a-centennial-gift.mp3 0:06 2 full Museum of the Big Bend: Wandering Collections https://qualla.com/museum-of-the-big-bend/ Photo credit Nzeemin, CC BY-SA 3.0. By 1966, the West Texas Historical and Scientific Society had become inactive, and the museum closed. The collections passed to Sul Ross State University, and the original museum building was converted into a student center. The artifacts that had told the story of the Big Bend w...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/q/k/museum-of-the-big-bend-wp/9tqk-museum-of-the-big-bend-wandering-collections.mp3 0:06 3 full Museum of the Big Bend: Maps, Art, and Fossils https://qualla.com/museum-of-the-big-bend/ Photo credit Nzeemin, CC BY-SA 3.0. The museum houses diverse collections reflecting the Big Bend's layered history. The Yana and Marty Davis Map Collection contains over 2,000 maps focusing on the Texas-Mexico borderlands, one of the largest and most diversified collections of Texas maps in the state, housed in a ...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/q/k/museum-of-the-big-bend-wp/9tqk-museum-of-the-big-bend-maps-art-and-fossils.mp3 0:06 4 full Museum of the Big Bend: The McCoy Expansion https://qualla.com/museum-of-the-big-bend/ Photo credit Nzeemin, CC BY-SA 3.0. In June 2023, an $11 million expansion doubled the museum's footprint, adding 10,000 square feet of new exhibition and event space. Miriam McCoy, whose family owns McCoy's Building Supply, donated $5 million for the project. University of Texas architecture professor Larry Speck,...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/q/k/museum-of-the-big-bend-wp/9tqk-museum-of-the-big-bend-the-mccoy-expansion.mp3 0:06 5 full