brown county museum of history & firearms museum of texas

What a cool place! It looks like a castle. As if that alone is not enough? You'll only need about an hour. You'll be glad you toured this old jail.

Just the look of the building is intriguing. Firearms collection is very nice and covers many decades of development. From Black Powder to AR. Jail is really something to see. You would not want to be locked up in there. Sherrif's living quarter are authentic, and there is even a "Who don't interactive investigation for "KIDS" of all ages.

When I was young, I looked at this place like Castle Greyskull from He-Man. Always said I'd live there one day lol lol lol! Finally took a walk about through the faculty, made me want it even more! Place is amazing!

This was a nice museum once we figured out how to get in. The entrance was actually across the street from the big building. It's actually like 2 museums, you just have to go to the small building first. I always like visiting these kind of museums and this one was just like many other small museums that have taken over old city buildings. Several small rooms of interesting firearms, a visit to the old jail and some law enforcement history, local military history and such. If you're driving by, stop in. I can't recall if there was a fee or if I simply donated $5, just had $5 in my notes and may have just been a donation.

Small county historical museums are hit and miss as far as quality of exhibits goes, but this one was a hit with everyone. It was full of local information - more than I ever expected for Brownwood. The old jail is also worth visiting (across the street). My 8 year old daughter loved it!

We liked our visit from the time we saw the castle looking building, the excellent guided tour by Nick of the old jail and Firearm collection, then the walk over to the history museum with many excellent historic exhibits. A great time!

The Brown County Museum of History is located in the 1902 Brown County Jail building, a fascinating 4-story structure originally built to resemble a European Castle. It is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The first floor was home to the Sheriff's family and is being restored with period furniture and personal items. Also on the first floor are two special exhibits- The Firearms Museum of Texas, with a extensive display of historical firearms, and a "CSI Room", where you can attempt to solve a real historical crime. Upstairs are the original jail cells. The top floor is not open at present. Across the street is the large Annex Building containing great displays of Brown County history and information and artifacts from Camp Bowie, World War II, and the POW Camp history. We had a very informative tour with the museum manager, Nick Seybert. Plan to spend awhile, as there is a lot to see. There is no fee for touring the museum, but donations are appreciated. The museum also hosts a popular Haunted Jail event in October.