About

Once the home of Decatur Baptist College, it is now the Wise County Heritage Museum owned by the Wise County Historical Society, Inc.  The Wise County Heritage Museum is located at  1602 South Trinity Street in Decatur Texas.

The origins of the Wise County Heritage Museum trace back to a meeting in1891 of the Northwest Texas Baptist Association that founded the Northwest Texas Baptist College, a four-year institution in Decatur. The first classes were held in the Cates Opera House located on East Main Street- just east of the town square. Land for this site was purchased through real estate agent C. D. Cates of Decatur. Twenty local Wise County men pledged $1,000 each (plus other smaller pledges and donations from other individuals) to guarantee the debts of the new school. Thus this building was constructed.  The architect was W. A. Cann Architectural Co. of Wichita Falls, Texas. Construction contract was awarded in February, 1892, to S. C. Kilgore of Denison in the amount of $20,855 with construction to be completed by September.  Construction began, but a contract was relet to Ferrier Bros. and Wirz of Seymour in May of 1892 in the amount of $24,575 to be completed "at once".  The new building was opened for the fall semester of 1893.  The institution's first president was Dr. A. J. Emerson who served for four years until the school went bankrupt in 1896 and the creditors looked to the guarantors for payment of the outstanding debts..