Texas Sports Hall of Fame

The Texas Sports Hall of Fame approaches athletics as statewide history rather than as a single-team museum. Its inductees and exhibits span football, baseball, basketball, track, golf, rodeo and other sports, allowing visitors to see how high-school programs, universities, professional franchises, coaches and individual athletes fit into the larger story of competition in Texas. The institution dates to 1951 and describes Texas as the first state to establish a state sports hall of fame.

Several collections make the Waco museum broader than its main Hall of Fame title suggests. The building also includes the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame, the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame, Southwest Conference material and a theater and library, while interactive stations give younger visitors something to do beyond reading plaques. That range makes the museum useful both for dedicated sports historians and families whose interests are spread across different eras and games.

The museum is located near Baylor University, the Mayborn Museum and the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame, so three very different museums can be reached within a compact part of Waco. Sports fans can also use the stop to frame a Baylor game weekend, but the collection is statewide enough that it does not depend on allegiance to the Bears. A one- to two-hour visit usually works well before continuing to downtown Waco or another Brazos River attraction.