Fire Destroys Two Workshops at Sam Houston Memorial Museum

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A fire swept through part of the Sam Houston Memorial Museum grounds early September 23, destroying two workshops and badly damaging a third. The historic cabins nearby were spared, and museum officials say operations will continue while investigators determine what caused the blaze.

Huntsville firefighters were called around midnight to the museum property near 19th Street and Sam Houston Avenue. Flames had reached multiple buildings by the time crews arrived. Firefighters from Crabbs Prairie and New Waverly joined the response, helping contain the fire before it spread farther across the grounds.

The pottery shed and glassblowing shed were destroyed. The woodworking workshop sustained severe damage. Museum Director Derrick Birdsall said no artifacts associated with Sam Houston were stored in those buildings, though a reproduction of a 1930s McCormick reaper was damaged. The fire did not reach the historic cabins standing only a short distance away.

That distinction matters to a museum where the grounds are part of the experience. Visitors come to see exhibits about Sam Houston and the Republic of Texas, but the property also gives them a place to encounter history through buildings and traditional craft demonstrations. Losing the sheds removes spaces used for that work, even as the museum’s most historically significant structures remain intact.

Birdsall credited the firefighters and police officers who responded with preventing further damage. Both Huntsville fire stations attended, along with neighboring volunteer departments, Huntsville police and university police. Their efforts kept the flames from reaching the cabins, he said.

The immediate task is making the damaged area safe. Broken pottery, exposed nails and pieces of roofing pose hazards on the grounds. Birdsall said repairs will take weeks, but museum operations will proceed with visitor safety as the priority. Officials were still assessing the full extent of the damage after the fire.

Investigators had not announced a cause as of the latest available report. For now, the museum faces two jobs at once: clearing and repairing the damaged workshop area while keeping the rest of the site open to the public. The cabins’ survival means visitors can continue to see a central part of the grounds as the museum works through the loss of its craft spaces.