Bellville Historical Society

11/09/2026

Patrick Walsh of the Texas General Land Office in Austin came for our November 2026 meeting to explain all the purposes and services that this office provides, especially in terms of maps and land grant history. We were happy to help by supporting their Save Texas History Program. They have the job of preserving delicate old original documents. So much research can be made online now instead of having to travel to the state capitol. Progress!

10/20/2026

10/01/2026

Five members of the Bellville Historical Society went to LaGrange today to tour the lovely Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center. One aspect of Czech craftsmanship is their beautiful glass work, which you can see in several pictures. They have a library with a genealogy section, an exhibit hall, a gift shop, a dining hall with a copy of a chandelier in Prague, and the outbuildings including a lodge hall, a blacksmith shop, a sawmill that was used to cut the beams for the blacksmith shop replica, a barn, smokehouse ( of course), a newspaper office with working printers, a primitive house, a turn of the century house with its outhouse and wash house, a polka museum, and the Mary Magdalene chapel which contains a wood carving saved from a church fire in Czechoslovskia. Weddings and fancy parties take place there. The baby grand piano in the lobby is used for special events. I want to go back. On October 16 and 17, they will host their annual Heritage Fest and Muziky. We had a good time and learned a couple of Czech phrases!

09/16/2026

We had over 30 people attending our program Sunday afternoon! Our speaker, Allen Kaminski, gave an overview of how the Austin County Fair has grown through the years, and a hint of plans for their centennial next year. He has been heavily involved for forty years, and leads dozens of people in many departments. Our county fair is excellent!

07/17/2026

Part two of today’s field trip took place in an old brick water tower.. I can’t believe I forgot to take an outside picture. 400,000 bricks were placed by the Masons over a hundred years ago to hold a water receptacle big enough to fight fires in town (Columbus). When it was no longer needed, even dynamite couldn’t bring it down. Now it’s an eclectic War Memorial Museum with Republic of Texas money, civil war artifacts, and a three barreled sh***un! Again, there is much more to see spanning several wars. The last picture was taken inside the old opera house, beautifully restored except for the hall upstairs. We ended a lovely morning by having lunch at three different restaurants in town. Thanks again to Leslie Kinnear for arranging it all.

07/17/2026

Christmas in July! The first part of today’s field trip made possible by the Lovely Leslie Kinnear (green dress) of the Colorado Historical Preservation Trust took place in one of only two Santa Claus museums in the US in Columbus, Texas There are over 5,000 items to see, but I won’t show it all to you.

06/30/2026

The wind really hasn’t let up since the spring, so I tied the flowers down a bit more and added a flag for the special 4th of July in a few days. I look forward to the food and fireworks! Blessings to all from the Bellville Historical Society! We love our history.

06/18/2026

Many thanks to Dawn Hodges for her hospitality on our visit to her place, and for this wonderful cake and watermelon lemonade and mint infused water. So refreshing!

06/10/2026

We had two local presentation field trips today! We met at the Austin County Jail Museum at 10:00, and our member Bruce Noviskie gave us the history of the building, stories of some of the prisoners, as well as personal history of his family’s time living there. For instance, his mother worked at Rexall Drug store all day, fed the prisoners, and cooked for her own family in the evenings. We made a donation to the museum. This afternoon,nine of us got a wonderful tour of Hodges Farm by Dawn Hodges herself. The first one room cabin dates to 1850, and the larger rectangular home dates to 1865. She can tell you the history not only of the furnishings, but the wood used for the beams and floors. Dawn cooks, cans, gardens, and has pages and a YouTube channel and Tik Tok! We snapped up some of her cookbooks after devouring delicious cake, cookies, and watermelon lemonade she made for us. She does all this without staff, and we appreciate her time.