From the adobe casita to the Chinese laundry and from the jail to the church, the new Pioneer Town embodies the diversity and culture of the Texas Panhandle from 1890-1910. The exhibition design team thoroughly researched: the pattern of the tile in the bank, the type of curtain rods in the hotel, the can labels in the mercantile and the list goes on. Each of the 26 buildings are modeled after businesses and homes that existed during that time period.

Pioneer Town immerses visitors into life as a pioneer in the Texas Panhandle between 1890 and 1910. Kids and adults alike can tap out a message on the telegraph at the depot, play poker at the saloon, weigh and price necessities at the mercantile, peak in the two-seated outhouse, try on the leg shackles in the jail and more.
 

Muralist Lavern Burton painted all of the open wall spaces in this exhibit to depict the panhandle at dusk. The sky is aglow with colors that merge into the desolate landscape. Burton's work displays the sunset on the west, lighting a cemetery, as well as farm scenes and the open plains. She even added in a metaphorical reference to the time period with a horse and rider heading out of town and an automobile coming in.

Happy State Bank - Lead Sponsor
Canyon Economic Development Corporation - Initiating Sponsor

Mary E. Bivins Foundation

M. S. Doss Foundation