Texas's Piney Woods has a long history, from Native American settlements to the settlements of, perhaps, the first settlers in Texas - in Nacogdoches. Millard's Crossing Historic Village is Nacogdoches's living museum, which pays tribute to its pioneer past. The Gaston Museum near Henderson preserves another kind of past - the history of Piney Woods' oil booms in the first half of the twentieth century.
The Piney Woods values its outdoor space even in art museums. The Longview Museum of Fine Arts has an excellent sculpture garden. Sometimes, the outdoors is the exhibit, such as the exquisite and rightly famous Rose Garden Center in Tyler. Look out for flower gardens all over the Piney Woods, such as the Azalea Garden in Nacogdoches and the Daffodil Gardens in Gladewater.
