About Us

The Museum of the Coastal Bend showcases the rich multi-cultural heritage of the mid-coastal region of Texas. The Museum’s mission is to enhance the appreciation and enjoyment of the region's heritage. The Museum's purpose is to collect, preserve, exhibit, interpret, and educate using the history and heritage of the region.

For many years The Victoria College worked with board advisors and volunteers from Victoria and nearby communities to develop the Museum of the Coastal Bend. The Victoria College is an established higher educational institution that has served the Coastal Bend community since 1925. The museum's founders began with a concept of creating a cultural institution for educational enrichment to enhance the public’s appreciation and enjoyment of the region’s heritage and the preservation of natural resources.

The Museum of the Coastal Bend opened with a Chamber of Commerce Red Ribbon ceremony on October 11, 2003. The museum complements existing local and regional museums and educational facilities, and through permanent and temporary exhibits, provides a comprehensive overview of the rich Coastal Bend heritage and places it into a regional perspective.

In 2009, the Museum of the Coastal Bend achieved Certified Curatorial Facility status, a designation awarded by The Texas Historical Commission to only sixteen such designated institutions in the state. The certification ensures that facilities meet current museum standards pertinent to the care and management of held-in-trust collections.

In 2014, after a multi-year process including hundreds of pages of input from community members, scholars, and educators, the museum unveiled a total redesign of the core exhibits. The exhibit content was updated to current museum standards for optimal educational effectiveness.

The museum has a collections management plan ensuring that it takes care of collections responsibly. See it here.

Museum of the Coastal Bend Advisory Board FY 2016-17

• Information for facility rental (PDF)
• Collections: Donation and Loan Guidelines (PDF), Artifact Registration Form (PDF)

La Salle Odyssey Project

The Museum is proud to be a member of the La Salle Odyssey Project, a cooperative venture of seven Texas Gulf Coast museums. Each museum tells a segment of the story of French explorers in Texas, captained by Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, in their own unique way.

• Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History, Corpus Christi, Texas: Presents both the beginning and end of the La Salle Story
• Texana Museum, Edna, Texas : Meet the native Texans who watched the French come ashore
• Matagorda County Museum, Bay City, Texas: Discover the events that led to the recovery of the Belle, La Salle's ill-fated ship.
• La Petite Belle, Palacios, Texas: The home-port of La Petite Belle. The vessel is a half-scale, seaworthy reproduction of La Belle. It compliments the City by the Sea Museum in Palacios and the Matagorda County Museum.
• Calhoun County Museum, Port Lavaca, Texas : Odyssey travelers will learn about French colonial Texas.
• Texas Maritime Museum, Rockport, Texas : Sailing to the New World in the 17th Century was a marvelous, but dangerous adventure.
• Museum of the Coastal Bend, Victoria, Texas : Presents the story of the first French settlement on Texas soil, Fort Saint Louis. MCB is the main site of artifacts from the Fort St. Louis archaeological excavation.

Texas Historical Commission  Visit THC for information about the Belle and Fort St. Louis excavations.

Texas Independence Trail : For more information on historical sites and heritage-based attractions, visit the Texas Independence Trail website.