View source for Window on the Plains Museum

{{Image Thumbnail left|File:Window on the Plains Museum in TX.jpg|300px|The highlight of a trip to Dumas, Texas, is the Window on the Plains Museum.}}
{{Image Thumbnail right|File:Windmill over Window on the Plains Museum.jpg|300px|Windmill at Window on the Plains Museum}}
{{Image Thumbnail right|File:Simulated fire place at Window on the Plains Museum.jpg|300px|Campfire replica}}
{{Image Thumbnail right|File:Barn display at Window on the Plains Museum.jpg|300px|Barn exhibit}}
{{Image Thumbnail right|File:Kitchen at Window on the Plains Museum.jpg|300px|The kitchen}}
{{Image Thumbnail right|File:Physician and druggist exhibit at Window on the Plains Museum.jpg|300px|Physician and druggist office}}

'''Window on the Plains Museum''' offers displays of ranching, [[farming]], [[Industry|industrial]], [[business]], and family life exhibits of the [[Texas]] Panhandle during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is located in Dumas in Moore County fifty miles north of [[Amarillo]] at 1820 South Dumas Avenue on the common United States Highways 287 and 87.

Originally housed in the ballroom of the landmark '''Sneed Hotel''' and first known as the Moore County Historical Museum, the facility was dedicated on Bicentennial Day, July 4, 1976. It was relocated in 2001 to a modern building on a {10-acre tract in southwest Dumas and renamed "Window on the Plains." The facility also houses a research and archives center, and the Moore County Art Association is located next door.<ref name="dumasmuseumandartcenter.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.dumasmuseumandartcenter.org/window_on_the_plains_museum.htm |title=Window on the Plains Museum |publisher=Dumasmuseumandartcenter.org |date= |accessdate=April 27, 2016; no longer on-line}}</ref>

The origin of the museum dates to January 1976, when representatives of the Moore County Historical Commission, the art association, and the Bicentennial Committee met to consider the establishment of a county museum.  Collier Phillips, the then president of the historical commission, was elected temporary chairman. A steering committee met with the county commissioners in February to seek permission to use the first floor of the hotel, now the Lew Haile Annex. The building had been donated to the county by Elizabeth Sneed Pool Robinette. The commissioners agreed to the proposal, work soon began on remodeling, building exhibit areas, and the acquisition of artifacts and documenting records. Some fifty-two persons donated more than five thousand hours of labor, having completed the task in time for the formal dedication on July 4.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.museumsusa.org/museums/info/1167477 |title=View Museum Info |publisher=Museumsusa.org |date= |accessdate=January 27, 2020}}</ref>

==Local history==

The museum contains a section on the local history of Dumas and Moore County. The origin of the city dates to 1891 when it was laid out by the Panhandle Townsite Company, headed by Louis Dumas (April 16, 1856 &ndash; January 5, 1923), originally from Sister Grove near [[Dallas]], Texas. Dumas and his wife, Florence (November 17, 1861 &ndash; June 9, 1927), originally from Pilot Point] in Denton County, were living near Dallas, when they lost a daughter, Johnnie (1881-1888). Dumas came to Moore County, while his grief-stricken wife stayed behind for a time before she joined her husband. After a [[blizzard]] again devastated Dumas in 1895, the couple returned to Sherman in Grayson County, where they died four years apart during the 1920s. Dumas hence lived only about seven years in the Panhandle city which bears his name.<ref name=history>Local history exhibits, Window on the Plains Museum, Dumas, Texas.</ref>

During the 1880s, a drift fence of [[barbed wire]] was built to hold back cattle from [[Oklahoma]], [[Colorado]], and [[Kansas]] from crossing into the Texas Panhandle during blizzards. It was strung along the northern boundary of each ranch. The fence extended for two hundred miles in Texas, with a gate every three miles. In 1889, Texas passed a law prohibiting fencing of public property, and the fence was removed in 1890. It had been particularly disastrous for the cattle in 1887, when they were unable to head south for greener pastures during a blizzard.<ref>Texas State Historical Survey Committee, Historical Marker, 1969, Dumas Travel Station, Dumas, Texas.</ref>

Moore County is named for Commodore Edwin Ward Moore (1810-1865), naval commander during the [[Republic of Texas]] and a friend of [[Robert E. Lee]]. Dumas became the county sea] in 1892. In 1893, Louis Dumas donated land for the Moore County Court House, which was completed the following year at a cost of $6,536. The original courthouse was replaced in the 1930s and still serves the county. The first state bank was established in Dumas in 1908. In time, it became the First National Bank of Amarillo and is now a branch of Bank of America.<ref name=history/>

[[Oil]] was found in Moore County in 1927.  On July 29, 1956, eighteen, mostly volunteer, [[firefighter]]s died while trying to extinguish a blaze at the Shamrock Refinery in Dumas, now owned by Valero Energy Corporation. Ken Floyd and Gabriel Horn prepared a [[documentary]] on the fire and the heroic efforts of the lost.<ref name=history/> There is also a monument at the Moore County Courthouse honoring the firefighters.

Lew Haile (1878-1961), for whom the county annex building is named, was a Moore County commissioner from 1910 to 1952, the longest tenure thus far for such a local official in Texas. Noel McDade (1882-1979, the first [[mayor]] of Dumas (1930-1935), served as the Moore County administrative judge from 1935 to 1945. He was posthumously named "Citizen of the Century" in 1992.<ref name=history/>

==List of exhibits==

*1900s Street Scene &mdash; A general store, post office, and doctor's office can be viewed as one walks down a wooden sidewalk.
*The Phillips and Son General Store &mdash; Dates to 1892 and operated until 1994.
*Physician, Druggist, and Dentist Office &mdash; Early [[physician]]s also served as druggists and [[dentist]]s.
*Early Moore County Ranch House &mdash; This replica of a typical rancher's home was constructed of wood from a barn in the early 1900s. There are also a Ranch House Kitchen, with an mpressive wood stove, and a Ranch House Office.
*1920s &ndash; 1930s House in Moore County &mdash; A master carpenter designed this replica of a 1920s family home, with dining room and bedroom as well.
*Clothes Washing &mdash; Originally a weekly chore of cleaning laundry began on Mondays with an open pot over a fire but quickly led to manual and then automatic washing machines
*Blacksmith Shop, with a forge used by the first [[blacksmith]] in Dumas and the original [[insurance]] policy that covered his business.
*Roundup Scene &mdash; [[Saddle]]s cover the fence around the campfire of a cattle roundup. The cowboy represents Marshall Cator (1902-2002), a rancher from Sunray in Moore County, recognized in the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, in [[Oklahoma City]], Oklahoma.
*Tent Meeting &mdash; Camp meetings were held by traveling [[evangelist]]s serving the scattered communities. Tents were pitched to allow visitors to camp in the area and attend the meetings.
*Playa Lake &mdash; Runoff from rain gathers in low areas and provides temporary water for cattle and wildlife. During the dry season, these lakes often evaporate.
*Farming and Ranching exhibits &mdash; Items used by settlers into the area, including farm equipment.
*Early Communication &mdash; When [[telephone]]s first came to Moore County, the lines were run on top of fences. Switchboards and many styles of telephones are displayed in the museum.<ref name="dumasmuseumandartcenter.org"/>

There is a large [[windmill]] and other exhibits outside the museum. Volunteers known as "Windmillers" help with various tasks about the facility, including welcomng guests. Museum hours are daily except Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is no admission charge, but donations are welcome.

==References==
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[[Category:History]]
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Museums]]