Mayborn Museum Complex, Natural science and cultural history museum at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
The Mayborn Museum Complex opened in May 2004 at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, as a 142,000-square-foot (13,200 m2) facility. It combines a natural history wing with prehistoric Central Texas exhibits and dioramas of local landscapes, the two-floor Harry and Anna Jeanes Discovery Center, the 13-acre Governor Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village, the 5,000 sq ft (460 m2) Anding Traveling Exhibit Gallery, a theater and a museum store.
The museum developed from three separate collections: the Strecker Museum established in 1856, the Ollie Mae Moen Discovery Center opened in 1965, and the Governor Bill Daniel Historic Village. These three sections were eventually combined into a single museum complex.
The Historic Village section displays nine original wood buildings from the 1890s, showing how people lived and worked during that era. Walking through these structures, visitors experience daily life in an early Texas community.
The complex sits on the Baylor University campus in Waco, with the natural history wing, the Jeanes Discovery Center and the Anding Traveling Exhibit Gallery under one roof, while the 13-acre Historic Village lies outdoors. Allow time to move between the indoor halls and the separate village buildings, and plan for Texas heat when touring the village.
The 13-acre Governor Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village holds nine restored buildings moved from Plantation Ranch in Liberty, Texas, and donated to Baylor in 1985 by Governor Bill Daniel and his family. The village shows rural Texas in the 1890s.
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