This is Marty Murray’s first job as a museum curator, but he’s got lots of background in understanding museums, and has built a huge interest in history itself, and what Jackson County has to offer through the Texana Museum. Murray grew up in Lake Jackson, and said once he hit his seventh grade Texas history class, he began to realize how rich the area was with history.
“I wondered, ‘do you mean where I’ve gone fishing and hanging out has been in these places?’
From that point on it triggered me that everywhere I looked I could find something historic,” Murray said.
Him and his dad, a pastor, have fished everywhere, from Galveston to the Port Lavaca area.
Growing up in the church gave him the opportunity to be a part of the Royal Rangers, (like the Boy Scouts), as part of the Assemblies of God movement. The RR would go on excursions to the San Jacinto battlefield, and realized they all lived within nine miles from Velasco, which was the original site before it became Freeport.
“I remember when I was in college I remember a big story when they found the wreckage sites in Matagorda Bay, and it was La Salle’s team,” he said. “I was like, you gotta be kidding me! I was on that bay a million times fishing and never realized Texas was almost way more French than it ended up being. And then to hear they found those cannons near Garcitas Creek, it’s mindboggling.”
In the short time Murray has been the Texana Museum curator he’s done some deep-cleaning, finding themes, and moved a few things around without removing anything. He’s also been prioritizing the items he comes across to group certain items together that is Texana or a town in Jackson County.
“There’s sections we want to revamp during different times of the year, so I’ve been looking to feature things and move things around. Also, we look forward to being open on Parade Days and special holiday events, as well as Gospel singing and special guest events.,” he added. “I love seeing things and wondering, ‘what can I do to make that a better experience for someone? What is a museum but not customer service?’” Wheelchair access is important to him, and he’s been making sure to remove choke-points in the flow of the museum, plus changing some of the eyelevel of the artifacts, meaning he’s thinking about the kids, too, and getting ready for elementary schools to visit, not just from our county, but surrounding counties as well.
Murray said one of his favorite things about museums is every person will have a different reaction to what they walk into. He believes museums should be a place that when people walk in, something catches their eye and are magnetized to it.
His passion for history is apparent when he lists the things that made Texana and Edna what it is today. “A lot of people might be thinking, ‘what’s in Edna,’ but Edna is only Edna because the railroad came and people moved the town over to be closer to it. The Texas Revolution: Texana is where the soldiers from Alabama and Tennessee congregated and trained before they went to the military militia,” he said excitedly.
Marty and his wife, Rebecca, have an oldest daughter who just began at the University of Texas-San Antonio, and have twin teenage daughters who decided to attend Edna and Ganado. Rebecca worked at the Jackson County Hospital District clinic for 13 years before she met Marty.
The other thing that brought his family to the area is the fact that he’s been in ministry since the late 80s. Murray received his degree at the Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie. They also had a business college, so his degree was centered around business management. He is the associate pastor of the First Assembly of God.
“My pastor essentially nudged me towards his job when he caught wind they were looking for someone part-time,” he said. “This area is ripe, and there’s going to be a lot of people who will catch on to the idea and visit here. The things we have need to be preserved.”
The Texana Museum is open from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, and the first and third Saturdays of the month, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., or later depending on crowd. Call 361-782-5431 for any questions.
