Kingsville's First History Professor Started a Museum in 1925

John Edwin Conner arrived as the university's first history professor and began a collection in 1925, the same year the school opened. Four years later, that collection became the John E. Conner Museum. Kingsville was building a college and a place to remember South Texas at nearly the same time.

The museum has occupied Loftin Hall since 1976. That building began as the campus dining hall, where students ate and gathered for dances and other events. Today its permanent and changing exhibits cover the history and natural life of South Texas.

That reuse gives the museum two stories at once. The exhibits hold regional memory, while the building carries its own campus memories. At 905 West Santa Gertrudis Avenue, the Conner Museum is where Kingsville's college-town and ranch-country sides meet under one roof.