The Heritage Museum of Montgomery County has a mission to preserve the rich history of the county that formed in 1837.
The museum complex at Conroe’s Candy Cane Park features the Grogan-Cochran House and the Strake-Gray House, both chock full with exhibits celebrating the history of the county.
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But there’s also a hidden gem of online history on the museum’s YouTube site. Museum volunteers have recorded video interviews with some of the county’s interesting citizens who share what life was like in Montgomery County back in their day.
There are more than 50 video histories posted, but here are five video histories to check out:
Don Buckalew
A businessman in Conroe since the 1960s and a lifelong resident of Montgomery County, Don Buckalew died July 1 leaving a rich legacy of community service in the Conroe area.
Museum volunteer Gertie Spencer interviewed Buckalew and he talks about his father running the commissaries for some of the sawmills in Montgomery County.
He grew up at a sawmill site near Magnolia. He also talked Magnolia High School sports, his time at Baylor University, doing business in Conroe with Buckalew Chevrolet and his work in the community. Buckalew Elementary in south Montgomery County recognizes his time on the Conroe ISD school board.
The interview is 37 minutes.
Celeste Graves
Celeste Graves was known as an expert on Magnolia history before her death at age 103 on June 28. She was born in August 1919 in Magnolia.
In the video recorded in 2011, she talks about growing up in Magnolia in the early 1900s where there were eight in her graduating class. She is interviewed by Gertie Spencer and Shirley Schneider from the museum.
She also talks about her role as a dispatcher for pilots at Municipal Airport which is now Hobby Airport. She also supported female pilots who were training to help in the World War II effort.
She went on to work for Magnolia ISD for many years and was instrumental in restoring and helping reopen the Magnolia Depot.
Her interview is 34 minutes. The education support center at Magnolia ISD is named for her.
Lucille Bradley
Lucille Bradley, a longtime Conroe ISD teacher, lived to see 100 and died in January 2014. She was once a student at Conroe College for Black students and took great pride in Conroe’s evolution.
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She was interviewed in the summer of 2011 by museum volunteer Linda Hanover. She was born in a rural part of San Jacinto County. She moved to Conroe when she was eight and started Conroe College at age 10.
She talks about what life was like at Conroe college, Conroe’s early medical facilities and Conroe’s reputation in the early 1900s.
Conroe ISD’s Lucille Bradley Elementary school in south Montgomery County is named in her memory.
The interview is 29 minutes long.
George Strake Jr.
Strake Jr. is the son of George Strake Sr. who discovered Conroe’s oilfield in the 1930s which led to Conroe’s oil boom and lifting Conroe out of the Great Depression that gripped the rest of the country.
Strake Sr. was born in St. Louis in 1893. He was drafted in World War I into the Army Air Corps.
After his service, he worked for a time in Mexico with the Gulf Oil Company learning what it took to find oil. Because of his mother-in-law’s ill health he was in Houston and began to explore Conroe for the possibility of oil.
His group discovered an oilfield southeast of Conroe and it changed the course of the town’s history. Strake died in 1969 at the age of 74.
This video is 24 minutes long. Also see other videos from Conroe residents who grew up in the Conroe oilfield.
Johnnie Jones
In August 2021, museum volunteer Gloria White interviewed Johnnie Jones who lives in Tamina.
His father worked for a Dr. Hays on his ranch in Montgomery County. Jones attended Booker T. Washington High School — Conroe’s high school for Black students — prior to integration.
He talked about his time at Washington, his teachers, and the football teams at Washington High School.
As a boy he grew up in Tamina and was drafted into the U.S. Army. He also spoke about his music career. He still lives in Tamina and was the subject of a photo taken by photographer Marti Corn for the project “The Ground on Which I Stand.”
The portrait of Jones in his black and yellow suit hangs in the Smithsonian museum in Washington, D.C.
His interview is 40 minutes long.
Visit The Heritage Museum of Montgomery County website for more.
