Frontier Times Museum, Bandera TX

A wonderfully quirky museum. We went in expecting a collection about frontier times and the history of Bandera, which it has, but there are a lot of odd items that don't really relate but are interesting on their own. As the woman at the front said, J. Marvin Hunter, the founder, had "a hard time saying no" to things people wanted to donate to him. There's a collection of 400 bells from around the world, for example, that have nothing much to do with the Texas frontier or Bandera, but they're really cool. Though it's not a large museum (four good-sized rooms), it's a bit overwhelming, with so many fascinating things to look at. Took me a while to adjust to everything, but I came away feeling like I'd seen a whole heck of a lot of amazing stuff. They have an excellent collection of books on Texas frontier and Bandera history. And copies of Hunter's Frontier Times magazine for purchase. Deserves multiple visits. And I plan on returning!

The reception/ticket lady was warm, friendly and kind.
We spent about an hour looking closely at the interesting collection they have. Worth the visit if you're in town!

Rebecca Norton is the absolute best museum director. She is knowledgeable, professional, and extremely helpful. What a great experience!

Fascinating. So many artifacts and info. Comfortable and Easy to browse, Staff so helpful. If ever in town, We would stop in, to say hi. Mgr. Avelinda, was so helpful and friendly. Also, the staff gentleman, was so knowledgeable.

Fun little spot with a lot of interesting things. They were friendly and helpful with special activities for the kids on National day of the American cowboy.

Small and cozy, desk lady is sweet. Don't want to say what's there cause some things I liked I was surprised and don't want to take it away from me visitors. I will say. I'm glad I didn't need my hair done back in the day lol

I've literally waited my whole life to go to this museum. I used to see signs for it when I was a kid back in the 70s and we were driving through Bandera, but I never got to go. Well, I finally got my chance.
This is one of those delightful small town museums full of all kinds of eclectic stuff. It's very nicely laid out, and much of it is hands on (which makes the 'Collection of 400 Bells' exhibit much more interesting).
It was an educational experience. I learned a lot of history about the area: the Silesian settlers, for example. I thought I was pretty smart about local history, but I see I'm not because I had no idea about those Silesians.
The staff is really friendly, the cost was minimal, and it was about a 90 minute tour for us. It's worth your time.