National Ranching Heritage Center

Preserving and interpreting the history of ranching in North America and addressing ranchings contemporary issues.

The National Ranching Heritage Center is a museum and historical park located on the north boundary of the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock. Dedicated on July 2, 1976, the 27.5-acre facility was established to preserve the history of ranching, pioneer life and the development of the livestock industry in North America.

48 authentic ranch structures have been relocated to the NRHC from some of the Wests most well known ranches and show the evolution of ranch life from the late 1700s through the mid 1900s. Each building reflects the geography of its original location and the materials available for construction.

Visitors to the National Ranching Heritage Center will see historic windmills, dugouts, barns, corrals and pens, a bunkhouse, one-room school house, blacksmith shop, ranch headquarters buildings, a locomotive, stock cars, depot and examples of such unique early architecture as a cabin made of cactus stalks and mud chinking and an elegant two-story ranch home ordered from a mail-order catalog. Each building has been authentically restored, furnished or outfitted to reflect period correctness.

Some of the countrys largest and most historic ranches were established in the Panhandle and Southern Plains of Texas. A visit to the National Ranching Heritage Center will be an opportunity to walk back in time and experience the real American West that was created by the people who lived that history.

The mission of the National Ranching Heritage Center is to preserve and interpret the history of ranching in North America and address ranching's contemporary issues.
The vision of the National Ranching Heritage Center is to be recognized as the nation's leading institution that enriches knowledge and creates excitement for ranching.