Limestone County Historical Museum

The Limestone County Historical Museum houses many interesting exhibits that document the history of Limestone County, Texas. On display are photographs and various other artifacts that provide information on Native Americans, early settlers, Fort Parker, communities and schools, the railroad, agriculture, military involvement, the Mexia Oil Boom, and notable personalities.

Admission is free, but donations are always appreciated.

Future Home of the Limestone County Museum

The Board of Directors is excited to officially announce that the museum association was recently gifted the Bessling-Cannon-Phillips Home in Mexia by the Jack and Mary Phillips Charitable Trust (Comerica Bank, Trustee) as a new home for the county museum. Restoration of some the original features of this 1896 Queen Anne Victorian are planned, and rehabilitation work to the home and property to make them better accessible to the public will also be completed. Relocating the museum to the new site will provide more exhibit space and better environmental controls. It will also provide a large space for archival storage, which the current building does not have.

William H. Bessling, Sr., who immigrated from Hanover, Germany in 1875, had the Queen Anne Victorian home built for his family in 1896. He married Mollie Elizabeth Roller of Freestone County on January 25, 1876. The Besslings had five children: William H., Jr., Mina Dora “Minnie”, Henry, Theodore G., and Sophie May. In the 1880 U.S. Census, Mr. Bessling’s occupation was listed as “grocer,” but he became a cotton buyer when he established his business, William H. Bessling & Co., that same year. He died in Mexia on June 20, 1907. Mollie died in Mexia on October 29, 1951.

May Bessling married James “Jim” Cannon on December 25, 1924. Mr. Cannon was from Thornton but moved to Mexia in 1914 and worked for Berry-Barnett Grocery Company for 22 years. He then went into the automobile and loan business for himself. The couple lived in the Bessling Home with May’s mother. They had a son, James Bessling “Jimmie” Cannon who was killed at the age of 19 on April 22, 1945 while serving in Germany during World War II. Jim Cannon died on October 14, 1947. After her mother’s death in 1951, May Cannon continued living in the Bessling Home until her death on September 29, 1979. She left the home to her cousin, Jack Phillips, whose grandmother was the sister of Mrs. Cannon’s mother. He and his wife, Mary, renovated the home in 1991.

Cindy Walker Inducted into Songwriter's Hall of Fame

Camp Mexia

Recently, the Limestone County Museum received several items associated with Camp Mexia, a German prisoner of war camp that was constructed three miles west of Mexia. Pictured is a flag used at the camp, which was probably the last flag to fly over the camp during wartime. It is a huge flag made of wool. To get an idea of its size, the flag is displayed on a 3 ft. x 3 ft. table. The flag was passed on to Camp Mexia from other POW camps because their flagpoles were not large enough to support the weight of the flag. The photo below shows Captain Thomas Gleason standing in front of the camp headquarters. Directly behind him is the camp’s large flagpole.

Construction on the POW camp began in the Spring of 1942 and the first prisoners arrived on June 4, 1943. Most of the POWs detained at the camp had served in General Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps, which surrendered in April 1943. At one point the camp housed as many as 5000 POWs and was staffed by at least 750 American officers and servicemen. Because of the shortage of farm labor during the war, some of the POWs were allowed to participate in a program which allowed them to work on local farms. The U.S. government would receive $1.50 per day from the farmers for each prisoner who worked. A portion of that would be placed in an account for the POW to spend in the commissary or for use after the war.

Today, the site of Camp Mexia is home to the Mexia State Supported Living Center, formerly called the Mexia State School. After the property was transferred to the state by the U. S. Government, the Mexia State School opened on April 24, 1946 with the transfer of 48 residents from the Ink’s Lake Branch of the Austin State School. A few of the original structures from the POW camp still remain on the campus. Another item that was donated to the museum was a set of baby furniture that was constructed and hand painted by German POWs for the son of Captain Thomas Gleason who was stationed at the camp. The Germans did this as a way to show their appreciation for how well they had been treated.

Fossils on Display

The museum has a small collection of fossils that were found in Limestone County, many of which were unidentified until recently. They are now on display for everyone to view.