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Pate Museum of Transportation

Transportation museum in Cresson, Texas From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Pate Museum of Transportation was a transportation museum located in Cresson, Texas.

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History

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Background

A.M. "Aggie" Pate Jr. acquired the first car in 1948 in high school.[1] After becoming president of Panther Oil and Grease in 1965, he began planning for an automobile museum.[2] The original idea included a vintage gas station and was called Gasoline Alley, but the scope expanded to include all forms of transportation.[3]

Establishment

The main building was opened on 2 August 1969[3][4] and three months later the museum had 26 cars.[5]

The museum received the minesweeper USS Admiral Vosseller (MSB-5) on loan from the U.S. Navy in 1973.[6] The following year it opened an exhibition about lighter-than-air aircraft.[7] The year after that, it displayed the first Soviet space exhibit in the United States.[8]

Pate died in 1988 and, by the late 1990s, the former site of the museum was redeveloped into housing.[2][9][clarification needed]

The U.S. Air Force began removing aircraft from the collection in 2003 after their condition deteriorated and the museum could not afford the cost of repairs.[10][a]

Closure

Due to a lack of funding and reduced attendance, the museum was forced to close on 24 December 2009.[12][13][14] The following June an auction of 43 vehicles was held.[13][15]

The minesweeping boat was scrapped in mid-2011 after it was determined to have deteriorated beyond salvage.[16]

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Former collection

Aircraft

Other

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Events

The museum held an annual open house and a swap meet.[35][36]

See also

References

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