“The Winedale Story” is a permanent exhibit on display in Hazel's Lone Oak cottage at Winedale. The exhibit features facsimiles of photographs, maps, manuscripts, newspapers, and artifacts drawn from Center for American History's extensive Texas history collections. The display is divided into two parts, each occupying one side of the “dog trot” or breezeway that divides Hazel's Lone Oak Cottage.

The first portion of the exhibit describes the natural setting and the history of the Fayette County area that Winedale now occupies. It features maps of roads and settlements in early Texas; entries from Stephen F. Austin's famous “List of Titles,” in which he recorded the names of settlers in his Austin Colony; and excerpts from narratives of immigrants and former slaves who lived in the area. Photographs and manuscripts also document the social and economic changes in the Winedale area during the periods of German and Czech settlement in the region, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and in the first half of the 20th century.

The second part of “The Winedale Story” explains the crucial role played by Houston philanthropist Miss Ima Hogg in the development of the Winedale property into a museum site. A noted preservationist and daughter of Texas governor James Stephen Hogg, Miss Hogg purchased in 1963 Winedale's historic Wagner House and the land on which it stood. Photographs and architectural drawings depict how Miss Hogg then assembled other area historic structures onto the property, renovated them, and then donated the entire Winedale property to the University of Texas in 1967.

The exhibit also includes a look at the fascinating variety of music produced in the Winedale area over the years. Photographs document the Joseph Wagner Family Band, the “Hayseed Band” of LaGrange in their festival costumes, the members of Brenham National Guard Band, and a formal studio portrait of a Mr. Schuhmann proudly displaying his prized accordion.

"The Winedale Story" exhibit was curated by Lynn Bell and John Wheat of the Center for American History, and was designed and fabricated by Drew Patterson Studios. It is not possible to duplicate this extensive exhibit in its entirety in this online version, therefore .pdf (Adobe Reader®Required) versions of each exhibit panel are included.

Acknowledgements

The Center for American History thanks the following persons for assistance during the preparation of this exhibit:

Gervais and Sue Bell
José Cisneros
David Dettmer
Delores Gummelt
Hogg Foundation for Mental Health
Gloria Jaster Hickey
Lynwood and Kay Krause
Dr. James Loehlin, Shakespeare at Winedale
Kit Neumann, Texas Historical Commission
Dr. Martha Norkunas
Bob and Mary Anne Pickens
Texas Archeological Research Laboratory
University of Texas Press
Lee Wagner

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John Wheat and Lynn Bell, Exhibit Curators

Drew Patterson Studios, Exhibit Design and Fabrication

Online Version by Justin Saffell

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