The law enforcement agency from which the Texas baseball team took its name honors its past, present, and future in Waco.
The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum sits off Interstate 35 in Waco, a fitting home for one of America’s most famous law enforcement agencies: Greeting visitors entering the museum is a statue of George Erath, an early Ranger considered the “Father of Waco.”
Once inside, galleries teeming with Ranger- and Texas-related artifacts await, including an impressive collection of badges, saddles and other equipment, historic surveying equipment along with state-of-the-art Leica GeoSystems scanners used to create 3-D images of entire crime scenes, and the story of two ex-Rangers, Frank Hamer and Maney Gault, who hunted down Bonnie and Clyde in 1934.
Among the hundreds of firearms is an 1846 Colt Walker revolver. The Hall of Fame honors Hispanic and Native American Rangers, notable women who supported the organization, and Rangers who died in the line of duty or delivered distinguished service.
The Pop Culture Gallery shows the organization in popular culture like former TV series The Lone Ranger and Walker, Texas Ranger.
The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and located at 100 Texas Ranger Trail in Waco. Admission is $8 for adults, $4 for ages 6-12, free for younger than 6, and $7 for ages 60 and up or military with ID. For more information, call 254.750.8631 or visit texasranger.org.
Photography: Courtesy the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, Waco.