Bullock Texas State History Museum

The Bullock Texas State History Museum is the state's official history museum and features three floors of exhibition galleries, IMAX^® Theatre, Texas Spirit Theater, The Star Cafe, and Bullock Museum Store.

Museum Quick Info

The Bullock Museum is located at 1800 N. Congress Ave Austin, TX 78701, with garage parking accessible from 18th Street. Exhibitions are open to the public Monday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. The IMAX Theatre is open for documentary screenings during Museum open hours and on select evenings for feature films.

• For adults, exhibition admission is $13, IMAX documentary admission is $9, and IMAX feature admission is $15. Discounted prices are available for children (4-17), seniors (65+), college students, and active and retired military personnel. Children age three and younger are admitted free. View ticket prices
• The Museum opened in 2001 and is named for the state's 38th Lieutenant Governor, Bob Bullock, who championed the preservation and exhibition of Texas history.
• The Museum is a division of the State Preservation Board, which also oversees the Texas State Capitol and grounds, the Texas Capitol Visitors Center, the Texas State Cemetery, and the Governor's Mansion.
• The bronze star in the Lone Star Plaza in front of the Museum is 35 feet tall.
• In 2023, the Bullock Museum welcomed more than 335,000 visitors and more than 32,000 students.

Entrance to the Bullock Museum is located on the new Texas Capitol Mall, a pedestrian green space between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and the Texas State Capitol. 

View additional information and updates

Photography and Filming

Photography, filming and interview requests for media, public relations, or commercial use must be submitted and scheduled through the Museum's marketing department.

For Press requests, please submit our Media Request Form online.

For Commercial Filming requests, please submit a Production application.

Exhibitions

The Museum collaborates with more than 700 museums, libraries, archives, and individuals to display an incredible diversity of ever-changing artifacts in its Texas History Galleries. Three floors of galleries take visitors on a one-of-a-kind journey through more than 16,000 years of Texas history, exploring the story of how Texas began, the creation of the Lone Star Identity, the ways land, culture, and technology shaped Texas, and Texas's place in a broader national and international story.

View more about the Texas History Galleries

In addition to the Museum's Texas History Galleries, the museum hosts a variety of relevant and engaging special exhibitions featuring artifacts from all over the world, immersive multimedia installations, and engaging experiences for all ages. 

View current and upcoming special exhibitions

Theaters

The Bullock Museum is home to one of the biggest IMAX^® screens in Texas - six stories tall - and offers daily screenings using state-of-the-art laser technology. The Bullock Museum IMAX^® Theatre provides the very best cinematic experience, hosting award-winning documentaries and feature films. The Museum's Texas Spirit Theater features immersive special effects and hosts daily screenings of the Museum's signature films, Star of Destiny and Shipwrecked.

View current and upcoming films

Programs and Events

The Bullock Museum offers a full calendar of programs and events each year that explore all things Texas—music, arts, science, and more. Programs offer something for everyone—including engaging talks and lectures, casual and inviting social events and live music, interactive activities for children and families, film screenings and Q&As with filmmakers and experts, and fun, large-scale community events.

View upcoming programs and events

Shopping and Dining

From books and toys to local foods, music, and custom art prints, the Bullock Museum Store, located on the first floor, offers a wide range of items and unique gifts. Visitors can also take a break from exploring the Museum or drop in for lunch or a snack at The Star Cafe, located on the second floor. Museum admission is not required to visit the Museum Store or The Star Cafe.

History & Building Design

The Bullock Museum is a division of the State Preservation Board and was named for the state's 38th Lieutenant Governor, Bob Bullock, who championed the preservation and exhibition of Texas history and worked to establish the museum that opened in 2001. Central to the Museum's Texas History Galleries is the 300-year-old hull of the French colonial shipwreck La Belle, an artifact so significant that the building was created with housing the ship in mind. In 2018, the Museum's innovative Becoming Texas exhibition opened to expand on the story of the earliest American Indian groups to make Texas their home, as well as pre-1821 European exploration in Texas.

Located just north of the Texas State Capitol, the building exterior is covered with Sunset Red granite and is topped by a majestic copper dome. Visitors can walk under a monumental 35-foot tall bronze star, the highlight of the Museum’s Lone Star Plaza. The Museum’s expansive lobby features a dramatic, four-story rotunda with a stunning granite staircase. A unique 40-foot diameter terrazzo design is centered in the floor of the rotunda, showing figures from Texas's past gathered around the campfire to share their stories. Artist Mike O’Brien designed and sculpted the six bas-relief panels on the face of the Museum. Each panel depicts an era of the history of the Lone Star State. The 11-by-16-feet panels are cast-pigmented and acid-stained concrete, designed to look like bronze. From South to North, the panels depict First Texans, 1836 Texas Independence, Trains and Cattle, Immigration and King Cotton, Oil, and NASA and Space Exploration.

Awards

In 2013, the Museum received accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums, the highest national recognition for a museum. The Museum was reaccredited in 2023. 

Other notable awards:

2023

• Texas Association of Museums Mitchell A. Wilder Publication Design Award for material created for the exhibition Hilos de Tradición: Dresses of Mexico.

2022

• Austin-American Statesman's Best of the Best - Best Museum

2020

• Award of Excellence in Digital and Electronic Communications for Texas Story Podcast: Vietnam on Tape

2019

• Austin-American Statesman's Best of the Best - Best Museum

2018

• American Alliance of Museums MUSE Award for Media and Technology for Texas Story Podcast: Stevie Ray Vaughan
• Mountain-Plains Museum Association EdCom Award for Excellence in Programming for B Movies and Bad History
• International Live Events Association - Austin Chapter - Best Venue
• Austin-American Statesman's Best of the Best - Best Museum

2016

• American Association for State and Local History Award of Merit for the exhibition Life and Death on the Border 1910-1920
• Mountain-Plains Museum Association - 1st Place Online Presence for Texas Story Project

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