Museum Division: In its museum capacity, the Center features exhibits on a variety of Southeast Texas topics. Special collections include the papers of Governor Price Daniel; the Julia Duncan Welder Collection of private letters and artifacts; and the Jean Houston Baldwin Collection of Sam Houston images, the largest known collection of photographs and illustrations of the Texas hero.

n addition, three historic structures have been relocated onto the Center's grounds. Two of them, the restored 1848 Gillard-Duncan House and the 1883 Norman House, are open to the public. The third, the 1898 St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, is being renovated for use as a meeting facility.

The Sam Houston Regional Library & Research Center, a part of the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, serves as the Regional Depository for Southeast Texas which is defined as the ten counties of Chambers, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Newton, Orange, Polk, San Jacinto, and Tyler. The holdings are of special interest to genealogists and local historians.

Primarily a research facility for the general public, the center collects items that document the history of Southeast Texas. The center also maintains a museum division which includes exhibits on local history, rare maps and photographs, General Sam Houston, and Congressman Martin Dies.

The Sam Houston Center is a direct result of a community and area-wide effort to preserve its history. On September 27, 1973, Judge and Mrs. Price Daniel donated 114 acres for the building site. Local sponsorship and fundraising was organized by the Atascosito Historical Society with Charles W. Fisher, Jr., as President and by the building committee, co-chaired by Ambassador Edward Clark and Mrs. Camilla Davis Blaffer Trammel from 1973 to 1976. The Lamar University Board of Regents voted on November 7, 1973, to join as regional sponsors. In 1975, the center's construction was named as a Texas State Library American Bicentennial Project. Dedicated and opened on May 14, 1977, the modern archival facility is divided into classrooms, offices, exhibit areas, and the archives. The building has modern environment controls and a Halon fire suppression system.