Texas Gospel Music Museum & Hall of Fame to open in Carthage this weekend

CARTHAGE, Texas (KLTV) – A ribbon cutting is set to happen Saturday for the new Texas Gospel Music Museum and Hall of Fame in Carthage. For years, the museum was located in the Dallas area, but will now be located inside the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in Carthage.

“We’re not done yet as you can see,” said museum designer Rusty Summerville. “It’s kind of messy around here, but by tomorrow morning we’ll be done.

The turnaround on putting together the display was quick – with work not starting until January.

“It’s a matter of telling a story,” said Summerville.

And while this process was fairly quick, talks about moving the museum to Carthage started before COVID, according to Tommie Ritter-Smith, executive director of the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame.

Ritter-Smith expects the new museum to attract a new group of music lovers to a town known for country music.

“I think it’s going to bring in a whole new category of people that may not be real big fans of country music, but they are big fans of gospel music. And I think they’ll come here and see how great everything else is. And I think they’ll really enjoy their trip,” she said.

The new museum is extra-special for Ritter-Smith. Her late husband, Bill, was a member of The Calvary Boys, a group set to be inducted into the gospel HOF on Saturday.

“The Calvary Boys are my family,” Ritter-Smith said. “And Rudy Gatlin announced at our show this year that they were going to put The Calvary Boys into the hall of fame, and they were going to do it at our concert in February.”

The ribbon cutting for the new museum is set for Saturday morning at 10 a.m. The event will be followed in the afternoon by a 2 p.m. gospel concert at the Carthage Civic Center. Tickets cost $25 at the door.

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