Sam Rayburn House is the museum house of Former Speaker of the U.S House of Representatives Sam Rayburn

Sam Rayburn House is located in Bonham on Highway 82/56 Texas. The house is a 5 acre site with a museum that was the home of Mr. Sam Rayburn, his parents and other family member. Sam Rayburn was the Former Speaker of the U.S House of Representatives. The house has been designated as a U.S National Historical Landmark.

The original furnishings remain undisturbed in the house such as the historic smokehouse, the 1947 Cadillac that Rayburn received from Congress at the end of his first term as Speaker of the House, a barn and garage.

Each year at the house the Annual Sam Rayburn Chili cook-off is held in September along with the house hosting the Annual Christmas Open House to show the house in seasonal finery.

The house was build 1916, when Rayburn passed away in 1961 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 79, it was stated in Rayburns Last Will and Testament the property was designated as a museum and place of research. The house is managed by the Sam Rayburn Foundation and the house was deeded to the Texas Historical Commission in 1972 with the museum opening in 1975.

There are over 10,000 household items on display in the house including furniture, clothing and linens. There are also photographs and negatives of the house both historic and of the site since becoming a museum. There are also four vehicles on the property that belonged to Rayburn and his family.

The property shows how life in rural Texas was in the mid 1900's. The Texas Historical Commission also uses the house as a field office and has many files and publications on preservation, conservation and museum management topics. Educational programs are available at the house through guided tours. Teachers will receive a pre visit pack of information, activities and a video presentation about Sam Rayburn. These materials are provided at no cost.

Rayburn coined the term `Sun Belt' whilst supporting the construction of Route 66. He famously stated that America must connect `the Frost Belt with the Sun Belt', as the route was to run south from Chicago and ending at the beach in Santa Monica, California.

Rayburn was known for dressing to suite the occasion. He would wear expensive suits, starched shirts and polished shoes while in Washington, yet when he was in the poorer district of Texas he would wear simple shirts, jeans, cowboy boots and hat.

When Rayburn passed he had served as Speaker for twice as long as any of his predecessors and was posthumously awarded with the Congressional Gold Medal.