Frontier Times Museum

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give you every word the way Bandera remembers it. There's a building sitting in Bandera County that started as one man's stubborn refusal to let the West be forgotten. The Frontier Times Museum.

Built in 1933. And the story of how it got there is worth every mile of road between you and it. The man behind it was J.

Marvin Hunter, Senior, born in 1880, died in 1957. Historian, journalist, editor, author. He had lived throughout the west, and that kind of life leaves a mark on a person, leaves them carrying stories the way other folks carry luggage.

When he finally settled in Bandera, he came in as the owner of a paper called the New Era, and he ran it from 1921 to 1934. Now that might sound like enough for one man, but Hunter wasn't the type to stop at enough. In 1923, he founded a magazine.

He called it Frontier Times. And what was Frontier Times devoted to? History.

Border tragedy. Pioneer achievement. The kind of material that makes you sit up a little straighter around a campfire.

By 1926, he was already adding relics to what would become the museum's Western library. The collection was growing. The vision was growing.

And eventually, that vision needed a roof over it. So Hunter built one. He financed the entire construction of that museum by selling his own books.

Not a grant, not a patron with deep pockets. His books. That building went up in 1933, and it housed his Western collection the way a good barn houses something you intend to keep.

Hunter passed in 1957, and after his death, the museum was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. F. B.

Doane. They didn't let it go dark. It's maintained to this day by the Doane Foundation.

One man's collection, one man's magazine, one man's books paying for the walls that hold it all. That's the Frontier Times Museum. Still standing in Bandera.

What the marker says

Built 1933 to house Western collection of J. Marvin Hunter, Sr. (1880-1957), noted historian, journalist, editor and author. Having lived throughout the west, he settled in Bandera as owner of "New Era", 1921-1934. In 1923 he founded "Frontier Times"--a magazine devoted to history, border tragedy, and pioneer achievement. By 1926 he was adding relics to the museum's Western library. He financed construction of museum by sale of his books. Purchased after his death by Mr. and Mrs. F.B. Doane, it is maintained by Doane Foundation. (1965)