Taft: Blackland Museum

Taft: Blackland Museum

  • <p>Red brick building with sign saying Taft Blackland Museum</p>
  • <p>Room with an old desk, typewriter, adding machine, and ledgers</p>
  • <p>Department heads of the Coleman Fulton Pasture Company. (Bell-Whittington Public Library)</p> <p>Group of men seated and standing for a picture</p>
  • <p>President Taft visits the Taft Ranch, c. 1910. (Bell-Whittington Public Library)</p> <p>Group of men with two steers near a barn and corral</p>
  • <p>At the Portland Farm Division of the Coleman Fulton Pasture Company. (Bell-Whittington Public Library)</p> <p>Men on a horse-drawn wagon in front of a barn with sign saying Portland Farm</p>

In 1871, Col. George Fulton brought together drover Tom Coleman and cousins J.M. and Thomas Mathis to form what would become the area’s largest and most successful ranching empires. It would extend to 250,000 acres of land across five South Texas counties, and they profited greatly shipping hides and tallows from Rockport to New Orleans. Coleman’s cattle roamed freely in these parts before the company introduced some of the first fences to contain the animals in individual pastures. The ranch was eventually taken over by a lender from Ohio, who willed the land to his daughter. She married Charles P. Taft – for whom the ranch and the town were named.

The Blackland Museum is housed in the 1923 headquarters of Taft Ranch and features period photographs of the Coleman family and the Pasture Company’s original charter.

Blackland Museum

  • Hours: Thursday – Friday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Sunday, 2 – 5 p.m.
  • Admission: Adults: $6, Ages 6-18: $4
  • 301 Green Avenue, Taft TX
  • 361-528-2206
  • Visit Website