Wallisville Heritage Park

About Us

Our Mission

Wallisville Heritage Park, in Wallisville, Chambers County, Texas is engaged in the preservation, restoration, and study of the Wallisville Townsite and the El Orcoquisac Archeological District, two sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas.

Our History

In 1979 a private, nonprofit organization named Wallisville Heritage Park was organized by John Middleton and other concerned residents interested in saving the original Wallisville townsite. The property on which the town was situated was purchased by the United States Army Corps of Engineers during the 1960s for the Wallisville Lake project. After a 1973 federal court injunction halted construction on the reservoir, the plans were changed to preserve the old townsite. Heritage Park purchased the town's original 1869 schoolhouse in 1979, restored the building, and relocated it on Middleton's property near Interstate Highway 10. This building served as a museum and headquarters for the organization from December 1979 until May 1983, when Heritage Park constructed a new building nearby and relocated.

The new building contains a library and research center, museum, offices, archival storage space, and other features. Heritage Park also acquired other historical structures and moved them to Wallisville, including the 1910 Union Church from Anahuac, the 1915 Eminence Schoolhouse, the William Cooper house, and the Ina and John Wallis House. These buildings, as well as a rebuilt 1886 courthouse and 1895 jail and hanging tower, were to be located in a restored Wallisville Townsite, also known as the Heritage Park.

Our Resources

Heritage Park maintains extensive files on the history of the area and its families, towns, and other historical subjects. A large body of research papers dealing with El Orcoquisac, Fort Anahuac, and John Davis Bradburn is located at the Heritage Park, as is an extensive collection of records from Governor Ross S. Sterling. The staff also developed a collection of copy negatives and original photographs from private collections, as well as an oral history collection. The organization sponsored the publication of Chambers County: A Pictorial History in 1988. The book was selected by the Texas Historical Commission for the T. R. Fehrenbach Award for best county history in 1988.

We have approximately 2,000 books on Southern, Atlantic, and New England states, vertical files on 600 area families and 500 local historical topics, some 10,000 copy negatives of local individuals, families, buildings, etc, negative collection from a Crystal Studio in Liberty (20,000 negatives), negatives and prints from "The Liberty Gazette" newspaper, several archival collections dealing with Spanish Presidio & Mission at Wallisville (1756-1771) and Fort Anahuac (established 1830), numerous other archival collections dealing with Chambers County history and families of the county, oral histories with approximately 100 elderly residents.

Our Location & Hours

The Wallisville Heritage Park is open to the public, free of charge Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located at Exit 807 on Interstate 10 at Wallisville in Chambers County.

How to Contact Us

For additional information, call the museum at 409-389-2252 or write us at:
Wallisville Heritage Park
PO Box 16
Wallisville, Texas 77597
Our email address is wallis01@yahoo.com.

How You Can Help

Wallisville Heritage Park is a Section 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and any donation to us is tax deductible.

Any donation of $20 or more qualifies individuals or couples to membership in "Friends of the Wallisville Heritage Park". Members will receive our monthly historical newspaper, "The Age" and a monthly newsletter. These donations will help us preserve the rich history of Chambers County.

Donating Information If you have roots in Chambers County, we would also like you to send us copies of your genealogical records so that they can be added to our vertical files.

Our Staff & Volunteers

This section is being compiled and will be added to the site soon.