BONHAM, Texas (KTEN) òòò½ÊÓƵ” Sitting along State Highway 56, the shines a light on a part of North Texas history that people may not know is in their own backyard.
Rayburn served as a US congressman for 48 years òòò½ÊÓƵ” from 1913 to his death in 1961. He was Speaker of the House for a total of 17 years, longer than anyone else.
Since its 1975 opening, the Rayburn museum has taken visitors on a blast to the past, with many of the home's details being original artifacts.
"We'll have people that are around my age say ... 'This was in my grandmother's house when I was growing up.' And we have a lot of visitors that even say, 'I had something similar to this' or, 'this wallpaper that was similar," said Amanda Lanum, the museum's assistant site manager.
Each person who walks up the steps to the Rayburn home walks in the footsteps of former presidents.
"He then had guests such as Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson, who have stayed in this room," explainedòòò½ÊÓƵ Margo Mccutcheon, Rayburn House educator interpreter. "And President Harry Truman was also in this house."
Those presidents came to honor Rayburn's political achievements, but according to staff, the museum is also designed to showcase his passion for farming within Fannin òòò½ÊÓƵ.
"I always like talking about Mr Sam's connection with agriculture," Lanum said. "He did have cattle; he did have a small farm. He had Jersey and Hereford cattle, and just how connected he was to Bonham and his district."
While its always a treat for staff to greet people traveling to view a slice of history, currently they are targeting a crowd closer to home.
"It's a thing of just making sure people in Bonham and Fannin òòò½ÊÓƵ know why we're important," McCutcheon added. "It just seems to me that I never really heard much about Bonham, nothing really happens here, and just coming to this house and learning about Sam Rayburn... he did a lot for the people in Fannin òòò½ÊÓƵ."
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