RANGERS CENTER PROVIDES HISTORICAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITY

This monument in the shape of a giant Texas Rangers badge is dedicated to those who lost their

lives in the line of duty. — — Standard-Radio Post/Joe Southern

Keeping in line with Fredericksburg’s dedication to historic preservation, the Texas Rangers Heritage Center brings the story of the state’s famous lawmen to life.

The 12-acre campus includes a 350-seat open-air pavilion with a full catering kitchen and a LoneStar Stories Campfire Ring. These amenities support a wide range of event opportunities.

Phase I of the Texas Rangers Heritage Center is complete. The project on the town’s eastern edge was about 14 years in the planning.

In September 2013, then-Gov. Rick Perry and other dignitaries attended a ground-breaking ceremony on the land between Fort Martin Scott and the Hill Country University Center.

The Former Texas Rangers Foundation is the organization heading up the project. Phase 1 has a spacious open-air pavilion, which can seat 350 and features an amphitheater with a fire pit.

The site also includes a campanile (bell tower) and a Ring of Honor, and a 30-foot simulation of a Ranger badge which memorializes Rangers who lost their lives in the line of duty.

An historic flintlock rifle used by Mexican Texas colonist and elder statesman Ben Milam during the Siege of Béxar will be on display at the Texas Rangers Heritage Center when Phase II opens in 2023, just in time for the 200th traditional anniversary of the Texas Rangers.

The foundation has begun fundraising for Phase II, which will feature a museum building. Construction is slated to start this spring. There, visitors will learn about well-known Rangers and episodes in Ranger history.

Museum planners promise an immersive experience which will include interactive exhibits, a theater, galleries associated with the character

traits of the Texas Rangers, and episodes of Rangers who battled bootlegging, counterfeiting and murder, and the man who stopped the University of Texas Tower shooter in 1966.

Joe B. Davis, a retired Texas Ranger, is president of the Former Texas Rangers Foundation. He said Phase II of the Texas Rangers Heritage Center should break ground this spring with the goal of being completed in time for the bicentennial celebration of the Texas Rangers next year.

— Standard-Radio Post/ Joe Southern

The Legend, The Lore, The Law sculpture by Dustin Payne was gifted to the Texas Rangers Heritage Center in 2016 by

William and Luz Marie Scripps. — Standard-Radio Post/Joe Southern

Youths will be taught the five Ranger traits of courage, determination, dedication, respect and integrity.

The Former Texas Rangers Association welcomes new memberships. Get more information about the organization at www.TRHC.org.

Contact the Former Texas Rangers Foundation office, at 103 Industrial Loop in Fredericksburg at 830-990-1192.

Walking tours are available from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday through Monday.

EVENTS

All events will be held at the Texas Rangers Heritage Center, 1618 E. Main St. • SATURDAY, APRIL 10: Ride for the Badge. • SATURDAY, MAY 1: FTRA Membership Meeting and Reunion. • SATURDAY, MAY 15: Law Enforcement

Appreciation Breakfast. • SATURDAY, AUG. 7: 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Texas Ranger Day

History Symposium. Tickets are required for this event. For more information, call 830-990-1192. • SATURDAY, OCT. 9: Silver Stars & Six Guns Gala.

This tower will soon be the entranceway to the new visitors’ center and museum at the Texas Rangers Heritage Center. — Standard-Radio Post/Joe Southern