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Audie Murphy / American Cotton Museum
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Celebrate Audie Murphy Days at the American Cottom Museum: click here.
The Audie Murphy / American Cotton Museum is located in Greenville, Texas and its goal is
to educate the public about the history and impact of the cotton industry
on the Northern Texas Blacklands and the United States. Audie Murphy,
who grew up near Greenville, Texas was the son of cotton share croppers and
is part of this history.
The museum has opened a permanent exhibit dedicated to Audie Murphy.
This exhibit is also featured during the Audie Murphy Day Celebration event
which is generally held in June every year around the time of Audie Murphy's birthday.
Hunt County Veterans' Memorial
Location: Audie Murphy / American Cotton Museum |
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| Audie Murphy Bronze Statue: Built in front of the Audie Murphy / American Cotton Museum, this is the center piece of a beautiful memorial dedicated to Audie Murphy and veterans of Hunt County, Texas who served in various wars.
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This huge bronze statue of Audie Murphy is the center piece of a beautiful memorial dedicated to Audie Murphy and veterans of Hunt County, Texas who served in various wars. The memorial is in front of the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum and is very prominent from Interstate 30. The memorial has a number of marble tablets with the names of every Hunt County, Texas citizen who sacrificed their lives during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Viet Nam war. The brick walkway which the memorial is built upon contains the names of people who have financially supported its construction. Contributor names include Ronald Regan and President George W. Bush. The memorial is absolutely one of the finest I have ever seen constructed and dedicated by a local community to remember its fallen service members. The photo does not begin to do justice to this memorial and must be seen in person to be fully appreciated.
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Audie Murphy Posters |
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Recruiting Poster
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Audie Murphy Rose
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Rare Posters: These are just a few examples of the many posters maintained by the Audie Murphy / American Cotton Museum.
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The left-most poster was used by the 3rd Infantry Division for publicity purposes. The division has the well-earned distinction of being the most decorated in the U.S. Army's history. Audie was a member of this division for nearly the entire war. He deployed from Camp Kilmer, New Jersey and joined the division at North Africa early in the war. He remained with the same unit through its campaigns in Sicily and Italy. He then continued to fight with it through Southern France and Germany. The other poster is a rare 1957 advertisement from a nursery which sold the Audie Murphy Rose. Although the nursery is no longer in business, this rose is available through other sources.
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Honorable Discharge Certificate |
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| Honorably Discharged from Active Duty: This document records the dates and other information regarding Audie Murphy's honorable discharge from active duty at the end of World War II.
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This document records the dates and other information regarding Audie Murphy's honorable discharge from active duty at the end of World War II. It is interesting to note the hometown of record: Farmersville, Texas. Those who are familiar with Audie Murphy are aware that Greenville and Farmersville, Texas have always maintained a friendly rivalry over which town can claim Audie as their own. On another page of this website a set of authentic Audie Murphy dogtags also list the hometown of Audie Murphy as Farmersville, Texas. Although it is true that Audie enlisted at the old post office in Greenville, Texas, are the certificate and dogtags evidence that Farmersville should be considered the "official" home of Audie Murphy? We will let you be the judge.
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Texas Country Music Hall of Fame Award |
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| Award Winning Song Writer : Audie won many awards and not were all military-related. This is the actual plaque awarded post-humously to Audie Murphy in 1996 by the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame.
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Audie won many awards and not all were military-related. In addition to earning awards for his military exploits, Audie was a recognized song writer and wrote or co-wrote a number of songs, including several hits, such as "Shutter and Boards". His songs were later recorded and sung by top-notched recording artists like Charlie Pride, Eddie Arnold, Porter Waggoner, Roy Clark, Jerry Wallace, Dean Martin, and many others. This is the actual plaque awarded post-humously to Audie Murphy in 1996 by the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame.
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Commemorative Colt 45 Pistol |
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| American Remembers Pistol: Audie Murphy's interest in firearms is well-known. His ability to hit a target was legendary.
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Audie Murphy's interest in firearms is well-known and his ability to hit a target was legendary. It has been speculated by many that this was probably a key reason why he was such a success in the military. In Hollywood, Audie took great pride in being able to draw his revolver faster than any other actor. No stunt doubles or fast-motion film was needed to perform this duty for Audie. This particular "pistol is one from a limited edition by the commemorative firearm producer "America Remembers". America Remembers also has created a commemorative rifle, which can also be seen at the Audie Murphy / American Cotton Museum (see image below).
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Audie Murphy Tribute Rifle |
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| Audie Murphy Tribute Rifle: Like the commemorative pistol, the detail on this Winchester Model 94 commemorative .30-30 rifle is a sight to behold. The stock is made of laser-engraved walnut and includes beautiful 24-karat gold artwork.
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Leather Vest |
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| Leather Vest from NO NAME ON THE BULLET: This leather vest was worn by Audie Murphy during the filming of his popular movie NO NAME ON THE BULLET.
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You can find more memorabilia at the Audie Murphy / American Museum too. This display includes a leather vest which was worn by Audie Murphy during the filming of his popular 1958 movie NO NAME ON THE BULLET. This movie was his 25th film and can still be seen on TV today. To see a series of photos of Audie Murphy wearing this vest, visit the following link found on this website: NO NAME ON THE BULLET.
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Straw Cowboy Hat |
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| Straw Cowboy Hat: Audie Murphy loved to wear cowboy hats and this is one he liked to wear.
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Audie Murphy's head gear is not limited to just to military helmets or caps. He was probably just as well known for cowboy hats. Since Audie was a native to Texas, wearing these hats was second nature to him and not just the result of his many western movies. The straw cowboy hat seen here is one of his hats which he liked to wear.
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Cowboy Chaps |
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| Cowboy Chaps: Audie Murphy occassionally needed to wear cowboy chaps. Chaps were necessary to protect the legs of horseback riders.
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Audie Murphy occassionally needed to wear cowboy chaps while filming. Chaps were necessary to protect the legs of horseback riders as they travelled through tall, thorny brush or cactus. Since Audie was a superb horse rider and would not use stunt doubles for his films, chaps were a must. During his off-time Audie was also an avid horse rider, owner, and trainer and frequently rode horses when he wasn't making movies. In fact, Audie was such an excellent horse rider, he was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1996 as one of the "Great Western Performers".
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Aircraft Instrument Panel |
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| Aero-Commander Airplane Instrument Panel: This is the instrument panel of the airplane which crashed on Memorial Day, May 28th, 1971 killing Audie Murphy and four other aircraft passengers.
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This is the instrument panel of the airplane which crashed on Memorial Day, May 28th, 1971 killing Audie Murphy and five other aircraft passengers. The description on the two cards in the picture are shown in the text boxes below...
| Partial Piece of Control Panel from Aero-Commander, N601JJNote: The knobs and switches on this control panel have been changed many times in 32 years since the crash in 1971 and when it was donated to the museum in August 2003. Therefore, the settings on the control panel as is should not be included in any speculation as to the cause of the crash.
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| May 28, 1971The fatal flight of N601JJ, twin engine Aero-Commander departed DeKalb Peachtree Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, at 9:10 a.m., May 28, 1971 under visual flight rules for Martinsville, Virginia. No flight plan had been filed. Audie Murphy and Jack Littleton from Fort Collins, Co., were going to Martinsville to inspect a local plant that constructed pre-fabricated buildings. Audie representing Telestar Leisure Investments, a conglomerate of seventeen firms, planned to put money into the company if it appeared favorable. Other passenters of the ill fated flight were Claude Crosby, Raymond Prater, Jim Dody and Herman Butler, the pilot. Mr. Butler held a private pilot certificate but was not instrument rated. He had accumulated only six hours flying time in Aero-Commander type aircraft. The flight was uneventful until about 11:00 a.m. when the flight reached the mountains of southwestern Virginia and ran into bad weather of low clouds, fog and rain. Butler was not qualified to fly on instruments, flew east toward Martinsville, making several attempts to land in the vicinity of the community of Galax. By 11:49 a.m. after several abortive attempts to land, he contacted the FAA's Roanoke Flight Service Station asking for a weather report and indicating his intent to land at Roanoke. Now apparently lost, and flying through the mountains in the overcase and rain, at 12:08 p.m. the plane plunged into the side of a mountain at the 2700 foot elevation, about 300 feet from the mountain crest. Because no flight plan had been filed and the adverse weather conditions, the crash site was located at 2:30 p.m. on May 31 by a plan piloted by Colonel Hale and Major Slusser of the Virginia Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. The crash site was in Craig County, about fifteen miles south west of New Castle, Virginia, and twenty miles west of Roanoke.
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Contact Information and Visiting Hours
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Audie Murphy / American Cotton Museum
Greenville, Texas
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| Exec. Director: |
Ms. Susan Lanning |
| Asst. Director: |
Ms. Linda Owens |
| Hours: |
Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m |
| Address: |
600 Interstate Highway 30
PO Box 347
Greenville, Texas 75403-0347
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| Telephone: |
(903) 450-1990
(903)450-4502 |
| Web Site: |
http://www.cottonmuseum.com
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| Map: |
MapQuest Map
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In Greenville, Texas, get off Interstate 30 at exit 94B. Important: As you exit, you must travel on the access road on the north side of I-30 to reach the museum about a quarter mile from the exit 94B. Although the museum is easy to reach, the access road can be easily be missed. Study the map carefully by clicking on the MapQuest Map link above.
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If you find yourself in northeast Texas, near Dallas, take time to visit the Audie Murphy / American Cotton Museum. Conveniently located about 40 miles east of Dallas on Interstate 30 in Greenville, Texas, it is hard to miss. Whether you are conducting serious research or just want to browse the displays, the museum has a lot of information. In fact, the donations and artifacts on loan continually to grow and there is little doubt that more and more items and papers will be added to their collections in the very near future.
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Download a free educational newsletter on Audie Murphy.
Click on Audie Murphy Research Foundation.
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Last updated 20 August 2006
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