GATESVILLE, Texas (KXXV) — The Mitchell Collection is known to be the largest collection of spurs in the world.
6,000 out of the 10,000 are displayed right here in our community.
Gatesville High School history teacher and coach, Lloyd Mitchell, built up his spur collection over a period of 77 years.
“He saw something on the ground. He stopped his horse and got off and checked it out,” Ervin Adams, a volunteer at the Coryell County Museum, said.
“It was a spur in the ground. He started collecting spurs for the rest of his life. Later on in life, his students would send him spurs from all over the world,” Adams said.
In the 77th legislature of the State of Texas, Gatesville was officially named the Spur Capital of Texas. This came after our neighbors, “demonstrated a commitment to preserving and bringing public attention to the Mitchell exhibits.”
“The community is proud to be the Spur Capital of Texas,” Adams said.
Years later, the first Spurfest was held in Gatesville.
“Spurfest is just a celebration of the museum and bringing people in to see the museum. it's a celebration of our history – Central Texas history, not just Coryell County,” Adams said.
This year marks 23 years of Spurfest. Adams said there will be plenty to do and see, and it brings in hundreds of people each year.
“It’s neat. We see people from all over the world. We've seen people from every country just about. It's so nice that we get to talk to people – you got a lot of interesting people coming through here and visiting,” Adams said.
Spurfest is Saturday, Sept. 21 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Coryell County Museum. It is free and open to anyone.
