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If customers can’t find it, it doesn’t exist. Clearly list and describe the services you offer. Also, be sure to showcase a premium service.

Having a big sale, on-site celebrity, or other event? Be sure to announce it so everybody knows and gets excited about it.

If customers can’t find it, it doesn’t exist. Clearly list and describe the services you offer. Also, be sure to showcase a premium service.

Having a big sale, on-site celebrity, or other event? Be sure to announce it so everybody knows and gets excited about it.

Noted German author Karl May wrote about American Western life in the early 1900s. His works have captured the imagination of American Western literature enthusiasts from all over the world. CCPMM is a member of the Karl May Society and hosts its members on their periodic visits to America. CCPMM's library contains the entire works of Karl May along with annual publications from the Karl May Society. Karl May's works and publications are available to visitors and scholars for in-house research.

This 3/4-size oil painting of cowboy Hinton Fluitt was commissioned by CCPMM in 1965 and is painted by well-known Lubbock artist Lonnie Mason. Its subject, Hinton Fluitt  (1909-1964), represents in many ways the Plains cowboy hero: a man whose word was his bond, a straight-shooter with integrity and rugged determination; a man who gave an honest day's work for a day's pay, was never a bully, had compassion and unending patience. His job lasted from sunup to sunset.

Hinton Fluitt was born at Wrightsboro, Gonzales County, Texas and got his first taste of cowboying at age 15 on his uncle's ranch. He "took to it" like a duck to water and remained involved with cows and ranching his entire life. He married Mary Belle Smith (1910-2006). Fluitt died at McAdoo, Dickens County in 1964 and is buried in the Post, Texas Cemetery in Garza County.

On loan from Julia Johnston Montgomery, this early automobile was refurbished by Julia's father, Joseph Johnston, Crosbyton resident and automobile enthusiast. "The Brush" is on display in the Walker Wing of the museum.

Among Crosbyton's most interesting buildings are two Smith Houses, both built in the early 20th Century with similar Prairie-School architectural style—high ceilings with clerestory windows, spacious rooms with oak floors, built-in closets and bookcases. One Smith House served as home to a large family while the other was a business. Both still are used for those purposes today. 

The Sep Smith House on Farmer Avenue covers a 1/4 of a city block, and in its hey-day in the 1920s, was the site of entertaining and comfortable hospitality. Persian rugs covered its oak floors while original art graced its 12-ft. walls. A hand-blown glass chandelier hung in the dining room above an oak table that seated twelve. This home had built-in bathrooms in an era when outhouses were still the local norm. Its kitchen featured a dumb waiter while heat from its basement's coal furnace was piped throughout the home. Locals stated that Sep Smith's teenage children rolled back the living room rugs, brought in bands, and held dances on its well-polished oak floors. This Smith House has been owned in recent times by local artist Joe Taylor.

 The "other" Smith House, situated on a quarter block on Aspen Avenue, was commissioned by C&B Livestock Co. about 1918. C&B Livestock Co. owned the land on which Crosbyton was founded and in 1918 was busy selling off tracts and enticing businesses to the town. The Smith House was est. primarily as a bed & breakfast for C&B's business associates, as guest registers indicate. The Aspen Street Smith House was staffed by Chicago hoteliers J. Frank and Minnie Smith. Like its counterpart on Farmer Avenue, it also featured  bathrooms, high ceilings, oak floors and Persian rugs, but this Smith House had an outside kitchen at the back, far away from the main house in case of a kitchen fire. The grounds featured landscaped gardens, walking paths, and a goldfish pond. Mrs. Smith, whose interest was the gardens, imported bulbs and planted trees foreign to this area while her husband's primary role was chef and host. The J. Frank Smiths later bought the Aspen Avenue Smith House, continuing their interests in hotel management thru the 1950s. After Mrs. Smith's death, a relative, Mrs. Mae Trulock managed the hotel. The building is still a successful bed & breakfast, currently owned by local resident, Jim Hurt. The Smith House's guest registers contain the signatures of famous early-day visitors to Crosbyton. Memorabilia and photos from both Smith Houses can be found in CCPMM's collections.

Granite plaques in the Hank Smith Room and the McCurdy (East) Wing contain the names of early-day Crosby County settlers who moved to the area before 1920. Biographical information is available for each name. 

The museum's voluminous obituary collection can be searched by museum personnel and copies made for a minimal charge of $.10/page. We also will be glad to search and copy from our history files, many containing genealogical information and photographs. As time allows, our staff is happy to assist visitors with additional family history research. 

Please contact our office in advance of a visit to learn more about our services.  

CCPMM's East Wing features a facsimile of a typical Plains half-dugout. Dugouts were habitable sites used across the central US from the late 1870s throughout the 1930s. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, families found them to be welcomed refuges from the blowing sand storms that plagued the Mid West.