Museums are such neat places. They allow us to step back 100, 1000, or sometimes even millions of years to learn more about a certain aspect of life in that time period. What if I told you there’s an entire village in Texas that’s essentially a living museum? Heritage Village-Museum in Woodville is a near-exact replica of a late 19th/early 20th century East Texas town, with some of the buildings having actually been used in that era and since been restored. It’s a truly surreal experience to be surrounded by such history (and you get a delicious meal at the Pickett House out of it, so go even if only for that).

Heritage Village is home to the famous Pickett House, or the place we Texans go when we want to leave the table completely stuffed yet immeasurably happy.

TripAdvisor/J R

The restaurant’s atmosphere is old-fashioned and homey, with red-checked tablecloths, vintage posters on the walls, and old artifacts like that stove in the corner scattered throughout

Yelp/C R.

And the food…oh man, the food. I’m pretty sure this is what heaven is going to look like - endless amounts of down-home Southern cookin’ brought to the table until you physically can’t eat another bite.

Yelp/Amanda S.

Fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, greens, mashed potatoes, rolls, and peach cobbler are cooked to absolute perfection and served family-style in epic, all-you-can-eat proportions. I sure hope you’re hungry!

Yelp/Amanda S.

After you eat, it’s time to step back a century and explore the rest of the village. (In hindsight, it might have been a better idea to do that before you felt like a stuffed turkey, but I digress.)

Yelp/C R.

The village is a perfect replica of an East Texas town in the late 1800s/early 1900s, so you’ll see things like blacksmith demonstrations…

Yelp/Calyn M.

…houses and cabins of the era…

TripAdvisor/J R

…an actual church that was established in 1860 and rebuilt in 1912, serving the entire community northeast of Woodville…

TripAdvisor/J R

…a traditional one-room schoolhouse, and more buildings such as a general store and saloon.

TripAdvisor/J R

The address is 157 Private Road 6000, Woodville, TX 75979.

TripAdvisor/J R

Yelp/C R.

Yelp/Amanda S.

Yelp/Calyn M.

Have you ever been to the Heritage Village-Museum? What was your favorite part?

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