What is the Buffalo Gap Historic Village and where did it come from? Hundreds of years ago, great herds of buffalo favored this gap in the Callahan Divide, a few miles south of present-day Abilene, and it soon became a favored camping place for native peoples. As Anglo settlement approached, U.S. soldiers patrolled and skirmished in the area. Hide hunters and cattlemen arrived in the 1870s. Downtown Buffalo Gap, facing north, in 1910 After the Indians and the buffalo passed into history, settlers came to the gap, drawn to its abundant water and good grazing. A new town called Buffalo Gap arose, the first capital of Taylor County. A county courthouse, a two-story limestone structure combining a courtroom and a jail, was completed in 1879. In the following years, the face of the area changed rapidly. Soon, steel rails criss-crossed the once-wild land, horsepower no longer meant horse-drawn wagons, and motor cars churned up dust once trod by shaggy bison and Indian ponies. The county seat was moved to the new city of Abilene in 1883. Buffalo Gap’s history is described in detail in the Handbook of Texas. Buffalo Gap Historic Village originated as a historical site in 1956. Ernest Walter (Ernie) Wilson purchased the courthouse building and established a small historical museum of Indian and Western artifacts. Wilson, a well known lawyer, historian, churchman, and rancher, eventfully brought in two other Taylor County structures, the Hill House and the Knight/Sayles Cabin. Wilson passed away in 1970, and eventually the site was purchased by Dr. R. Lee Rode and his wife, Ann. After taking ownership in 1977, the Rodes continued to expand the site by acquiring more historic structures from the area. When Rode retired from the medical profession in 1999, the Village was offered for sale. Thanks to the assistance of the Taylor County Historical Foundation, the Village was kept intact and acquired by the Grady McWhiney Research Foundation to be operated as a non-profit educational facility. It is now part of the Texas Frontier Heritage and Cultural Center. Since 1999, the McWhiney Foundation has worked to develop an interpretive theme for the site. Visitors can learn the history of the last fifty years of the Texas frontier starting in 1875 and ending in 1925. They can also gain an understanding of the forces that brought change to the region, from settled communities to the automobile. Besides traditional static displays, the site continues to offer special events and lectures designed to bring the programming to a more personal, interactive level for visitors. For more detailed information about the Village, you can read a short book, The Texas You Expect: The Story of Buffalo Gap Historic Village, online here in Adobe PDF format.