Fort Chadbourne Medal of Honor Collection
James W. Kenney of San Antonio, Texas, an OIW member, recently donated his Medal of Honor collection, one of the largest known private collections, to the Fort Chadbourne Foundation. The collection will be on display in the new Fort Chadbourne Foundation Visitors Center, the Roberta Cole Johnson Building, which broke ground on November 14, 2009. Construction will begin in January 2010, with planned completion in 12 to 18 months. At that time, a special area will display the Kenney collection.
The new 15,000 square foot facility was made possible by a $1,750,000.00 private donation from the estate of Roberta Cole Johnson. It will present the history of Fort Chadbourne, along with many of the artifacts found during years of restoration. Besides the military years, it will include Native American and Ranching Heritage displays, and feature one of the largest antique gun collections in Texas. A gift shop and new office space will also reside within the Visitors Center.
Included in the new center will be a research library. The current Fort Chadbourne Foundation consists of books and publications on Texana, military reference collections, maps, and original site research. A database is under construction that will be available for anyone wishing to use the facilities. This area will house all of the Kenney collection. His wish is for the collection to be made available on-site to anyone wishing to do research. Ann Pate, a Fort Chadbourne Foundation Board of Director, stated she was awed at the size of the collection.
Companies A & K of the 8th Infantry established Fort Chadbourne in 1852. After the military departed in 1867, the property was bought by Thomas and Lucinda Odom in 1877 for five hundred dollars gold, and is still owned by the family. Garland Richards, the great great great grandson of Thomas Odom, along with his wife Lana, established the Fort Chadbourne Foundation in 1999 to preserve and restore the fort’s buildings.
Today a Single and Double Officer’s Quarters, East Barracks, Root Cellar, and Butterfield Stage Station have been fully restored. All of the other ruins have been stabilized for future restoration. The Butterfield Stage Station on the fort is the only restored Butterfield Stage Station in the State of Texas. Archeological work is ongoing and will be included in the research library.
Until the new Visitors Center is complete, tours are available through the office located at the Fort. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday thru Friday, and weekends by appointment. The website is www.fortchadbourne.org, email fortchad@taylortel.net, or call 325-743-2555. The Fort is located at 651 Fort Chadbourne Road, approximately 10 miles north of Bronte, Texas, and approximately 40 miles south of Abilene, Texas, on U.S. Highway 277.