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Celebrating Rural Crossroads

February 20, 2024

Weaving together past and present: Smithsonian, Texas Historical Commission collaborates with Bosque Museum & Clifton Main Street in heritage exhibit; influx of heritage tourism opportunity for local businesses

CLIFTON – In a rural, low density population area like Bosque County, any extra influx of visitors offers an opportunity for increased tourism revenue. Many local organizations and businesses often collaborate to capitalize on events that generate extra visitors.

From mid-October to the beginning of December 2024, a collaboration between the Bosque Museum, Clifton Main Street, the Smithsonian and the Texas Historical Commission offers such a unique event. A traveling exhibit at the museum called “Crossroads: Change in Rural America” highlights local heritage and is expected to bring heritage tourism to the county.

“I am over the moon excited,” Bosque Museum Director Erin Shields said. “This is a really great chance to show off our area and share the often told and under-told stories in our history.”

The museum will be creating a local exhibit to enhance the Smithsonian exhibit. Volunteers will be needed to help with building the local exhibit, enhancing the local experience, helping with publicity and education/outreach. The local exhibit offers a unique chance to engage people with area history tours and podcasts. With an expected 5.000 people to visit the museum and the county over the six weeks, it’s a win-win situation for all involved.

“We are at the crossroads of different cultures, different stories,” Shields said. “I want to make sure we tell the best story of the crossroads happening here, like the Chisholm Trail, The Horn Shelter, the fine arts, the historic Cliftex Theatre, the immigration stories of the Norwegians and the Germans.”

The community is invited to participate in two different get-togethers in preparation of the exhibit – an informational meeting February 22 at the museum and a day-long workshop March 7 with the THC Heritage Tourism team.

At the informational meeting Feb. 22, Shields offers information on the project and the timeline. Participants are asked to share their thoughts and insights on different themes, like Identity – perception versus reality, Land – attitudes and connections to the land, Community – the crossroads of people in our county, Persistence – work hard and get the job done, Managing Change – new solutions to problems facing rural America.

Core questions include “What would you miss about Bosque County should you leave?” “What would you do as Mayor?” “What change for good would you make in Bosque County?” “What will Bosque County look like in 10 years?” and “What has Bosque County lost what really matters?”

The hands-on visitor experience workshop March 7, offers assistance in creating local heritage experiences that are interactive, authentic, and memorable for the visitors to the exhibit. The workshop prepares organizations and businesses how sharing history during exhibit can benefit them. Both the meeting and the workshop are free with registration. Please call the Museum at to register.

The major themes of the exhibit are what changes – especially during the 1900s in demographics, education, access to services and economic viability – transformed rural America. As a result rural communities face challenges, but also opportunities. What is rural life like today and how are rural Americans shaping their future? How and why are people holding on to their rural communities?

The collaboration came about after Bosque Museum director Erin Shields visited a Texas Alliance Conference last summer and heard about the traveling exhibit. She realized Clifton and Bosque County met several of the criteria required to participate in the exhibit – less than 20.000 inhabitants, enough space for the exhibit, proof of broad community support and being at the crossroads – crossroads of commerce and trade, of local politics of cultures and ideas.

The Johnston County Library in Ardmore, OK offers an example of a very successful exhibit in 2022. The library partnered with universities, schools other libraries historical societies and private businesses in their local exhibit, drawing over 10,000 people to the library in six weeks.

“Oftentimes in rural communities it can seem as though life has passed us by, but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” the library’s Alyson Blankenship said. “Some of the best things in America come from rural areas and this exhibit and the corresponding programs allowed us to highlight them and inspire pride in our hometowns. This exhibit and other Smithsonian exhibits like it, are a wonderful opportunity for small and rural communities.”

Another example was the Aurora Public Library District in Dillsboro, IN local exhibit “Dillsboro, Where We Were, Where We Are, and Where We’re Going” showed the resilience of the Dillsboro community over the course of the past 50 years. Two-hundred-seventy-five local students were inspired by the exhibit postcard question “If you were mayor, what would you do?” and wrote essay responses. The town appointed a “Mayor for The Day,” who enacted some of their wishes – giving popsicles to everyone in the town’s 1,404 residents. The town’s younger residents found they had a voice in their community, and be empowered to make change in their town.

“Crossroads truly brought regionalism to Dillsboro,” Town of Dillsboro Economic Development Director Susan Greco said. “Some of our businesses have been working towards regional marketing. The Crossroads exhibit had a message that resonated with rural America far and wide.”

Looking at the other sites selected – San Augustin, St. Alisario, Bandera, Brenham, Buffalo Gap and Rockport – Clifton stands out because of is community support network. Besides the Smithsonian’s and the local exhibit, Shields hopes different entities – like Our Saviors Lutheran Church, St. Olaf’s Kirke, Legacy Park, the Bosque Arts Center, will focus on the heritage tourism it will create.

Bosque County is claimed by two Texas Trail regions, the Brazos Trail and the Texas Lakes Trail; this allows the THC to partly carry the investment and Public Relations and Marketing. Additionally, the Clifton Main Street Program and Hotel/Motel tax funds will help finance the project.

In the meantime, Shields was asked to be part of the Brazos Trail board, comprised of museum directors, visitor bureaus, chambers and business partners. She also has been participating with the other six rural communities involved in the Crossroads project.

“When many hear the phrase ‘rural America,’ we have more assumptions than facts,” Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch II said in a tweet. “There is so much more to the story of rural America.”

The Smithsonian Museum on Main Street/Crossroads: Change in Rural America, invites people to explore the change in rural America and be educated on the reality versus the assumptions.