Refugio County Museum
In 1793, Spanish friars built their last Texas mission nearly 30 miles northwest present-day Refugio. Two years later, Nuestra Señora del Refugio (Our Lady of Refuge) Mission was relocated to present-day Refugio.The original mission bell is the star of the Refugio County Museum. The museum retells town development, as well as how the county became a center for ranching, farming and oil production. One exhibit recounts the Battle of Refugio, a Texas Revolution skirmish in which Mexican ranchers and troops captured the town and executed Texian fighters. Another exhibit notes the local Royal Irish Regiment, one of the first volunteer military units formed before World War II. On the museum grounds is the 1876 home of pioneers John and Virginia Linney.