John Wayne fans have you been to Mount Pleasant, Texas lately? If not you might want to add it to your travel itinerary. That’s where you will find a collection of one-of-a-kind memorabilia loving displayed by a true blue fan of “The Duke.”
Harry Brown will tell you his vast stash of all things related to Wayne is what inspired him to build the Legends and Lawless Museum. The modest structure is home to Brown’s vast Wayne collection and other western memorabilia.
The museum is located at 2747 Old Paris Road near Mount Pleasant High School, and you’ll know that you’re in the right place when you see a large framed photograph of Wayne in the 1939 movie “Stagecoach” hanging near the entryway.
Brown’s museum is also home to a massive collection of videos, which he taped in the 1980s when Turner Broadcasting began airing John Wayne movie marathons. Brown says those 150 videos became the foundation of the collection that is now housed in the museum.
Brown’s collection of Wayne goods also includes commemorative mugs, knives, books, magazines, belt buckles, plates, watches and artwork. The items are displayed on solid oak showroom quality cabinets. Brown also furnished his museum with custom-made tables where visitors can thumb through his extensive John Wayne scrapbook collection, which contains rare snapshots, including one that shows the big screen icon in public not wearing a toupee, as he signed autographs for American soldiers in the jungles of Vietnam.
Other museum highlights include a 19th century trunk that is similar to the one Wild Bill Hickok traveled with in the Old West. Brown filled it with items the Old West gunfighter would have carried during his journeys and it is now proudly displayed near the museum’s mantel.
The Legends and Lawless Museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Admission is $2 for adults, a dollar for children.
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