LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – The National Ranching Heritage Center, located on the Texas Tech University campus, is marking 50 years since it opened to the public in 1976.
The center features a 19-acre park with 55 historical structures. Some were built as far back as the late 1700s, while others were still in use into the 2000s.
Education and Outreach Manager Lea Ann Lust said the concept for the center originated about a decade before its formal dedication.
“The president of Texas Tech University at the time went to Norway and they had a heritage center. He said ‘you know what, we need one of those’ and when they got people involved, what they really discovered is what we had that we needed to hold onto was our history and heritage of ranching,” Lust said.
The outdoor structures on display were used by working ranchers and their families over the course of several centuries.
“These structures are actual structures that ranchers and ranch families lived on and breathed in and their lives made a difference in what we do now,” Lust said.
The center has added the Cash Family Ranch Life Learning Center, a partnership with “Hank the Cowdog” author John R. Erickson. The program gives children a hands-on experience focused on modern ranching and its connection to daily life.
“People don’t take the time to understand their past. We believe if we can share real ranches and their real stories and the real heritage that they had, that will help you and me understand our own family’s heritage and our family’s heritage and what we stand for,” Lust said.
Additional exhibits are also featured inside the center’s main building.
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