O'Donnell Heritage Museum
Encyclopedia
The O'Donnell Heritage Museum is a local history repository in O'Donnell
in Lynn County in West Texas
. A part of the museum includes a room of exhibits on the actor Dan Blocker
, who portrayed the Hoss Cartwright character for thirteen years on NBC
's Bonanza
. Blocker was reared in O'Donnell though born in DeKalb in East Texas. Because of the Blocker room and memorabilia, the facility is sometimes called "The Dan Blocker Museum."
O'Donnell, located 45 miles (72.4 km) south of Lubbock
, began in 1910 as a stop on the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railroad, a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and is named for rail promoter Tom J. O'Donnell. Numerous western communities are named for railroad men, among them Gallup
, New Mexico, and Denver
, Colorado. In 1911, L. G. Phillips opened the first business in O'Donnell, the first fully automatic cotton gin
in North America. The gin was owned by the Farmers Cooperative. The museum hence contains mostly early 20th century exhibits, but some items from the late 19th century found in old homes and attics were donated to the collection.
Located at Doak and Eighth Street, the museum is across from the old Blocker family store. Plywood covers the entrance to the Blocker store. There is a hand-painted "Hoss" hat on the side of the building. The nearby lot contains sculptor Glenna Goodacre
's bust of Blocker, which was dedicated on July 4, 1973, a year after his death. The museum has a brochure entirely dedicated to Blocker. The museum has a pair of Blocker's boxing gloves, a Bonanza lunch box, a photograph of his fourth-grade class, and Blocker's over-sized Boy Scouts of America
pants.
The museum is housed in a 1925 two-story bank building that remains in its original condition. The regular exhibits include telephone system, organ, bedroom furniture, kitchen equipment, blacksmith shop, schoolroom, post office, legal and doctor offices, formal parlor, and restored church congregation at worship.
Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m., and Sunday, 1-4 p.m.
O'Donnell, Texas
O'Donnell is a West Texas town that lies primarily in Lynn County, with a small portion extending south into Dawson County, Texas. The population was 1,011 at the 2000 census.-History:O'Donnell was first settled in 1910 and named for Tom J...
in Lynn County in West Texas
West Texas
West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
. A part of the museum includes a room of exhibits on the actor Dan Blocker
Dan Blocker
Dan Blocker was an American actor best remembered for his role as Eric "Hoss" Cartwright in the NBC western television series Bonanza.-Early life:...
, who portrayed the Hoss Cartwright character for thirteen years on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
. Blocker was reared in O'Donnell though born in DeKalb in East Texas. Because of the Blocker room and memorabilia, the facility is sometimes called "The Dan Blocker Museum."
O'Donnell, located 45 miles (72.4 km) south of Lubbock
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
, began in 1910 as a stop on the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railroad, a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and is named for rail promoter Tom J. O'Donnell. Numerous western communities are named for railroad men, among them Gallup
Gallup, New Mexico
- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 20,209 people, 6,810 households, and 4,869 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,513.7 people per square mile...
, New Mexico, and Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, Colorado. In 1911, L. G. Phillips opened the first business in O'Donnell, the first fully automatic cotton gin
Cotton gin
A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, a job formerly performed painstakingly by hand...
in North America. The gin was owned by the Farmers Cooperative. The museum hence contains mostly early 20th century exhibits, but some items from the late 19th century found in old homes and attics were donated to the collection.
Located at Doak and Eighth Street, the museum is across from the old Blocker family store. Plywood covers the entrance to the Blocker store. There is a hand-painted "Hoss" hat on the side of the building. The nearby lot contains sculptor Glenna Goodacre
Glenna Goodacre
Glenna Maxey Goodacre is a sculptor well known for having designed the obverse of the Sacagawea dollar that entered circulation in the United States in 2000...
's bust of Blocker, which was dedicated on July 4, 1973, a year after his death. The museum has a brochure entirely dedicated to Blocker. The museum has a pair of Blocker's boxing gloves, a Bonanza lunch box, a photograph of his fourth-grade class, and Blocker's over-sized Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
pants.
The museum is housed in a 1925 two-story bank building that remains in its original condition. The regular exhibits include telephone system, organ, bedroom furniture, kitchen equipment, blacksmith shop, schoolroom, post office, legal and doctor offices, formal parlor, and restored church congregation at worship.
Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m., and Sunday, 1-4 p.m.