Organized in 1992 as the Eastland County Museum & Historical Society, work began immediately to archive period photographs and other memorabilia related to Eastland County and individual communities within the county. 

In 2004 a suitable location was found to house the Museum and a donor came forward to fund the purchase price for the building and to provide funds for work necessary to restore the building for museum space. The 5-story building at 112/114 South Seaman Street in Eastland, once housed banks, oil related offices, an antique mall and even a tanning salon. 

Known by locals as the old Eastland National Bank building, the property had gone through various owners and uses in the previous 20 or so years since the bank moved to its present location. Vaults and the general building configuration had not been severely altered over the years even though some of the ornamental and decorative moldings and other work had been damaged or destroyed. 

Restoration work had already begun by the time the building was purchased, and that work continued and some continues today. Many photographs and existing traces of the original designs made it possible to restore the building to the 1920-era style originally created by Henry T. Phelps, who designed many prominent Texas homes, commercial buildings and courthouse. 

Today, the first and second floors house the Museum with a permanent exhibit on the first floor detailing the rich history of Eastland County and space for temporary and traveling exhibits. 

The second floor comprises of Community Exhibit Rooms where communities throughout the county such as Olden, Long Branch, Gorman, Cisco and more have come together and created exhibits of their areas.

The basement, which still contains two of the bank vaults, has had various uses over the years from a YMCA, City Library, martial arts classes to band contests. The area is currently being used for storage but future plans are to use the basement area for museum archiving with original photographs and historic items securely stored in the basement vaults.

The Museum has received family collections of items from the families of Virginia Weaver Russell, Charles and Rosalie Leslie Loreto, the Dr. Gohlke Medical Museum and many others. Total funding for the Museum comes from monetary contributions from the City of Eastland, Eastland County Commissioner’s Court, office space rentals and private individuals. Donations are always appreciated and the Eastland County Museum is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization where all donations are tax deductible!