A. M. Pate Jr. and Sebert Pate were not only genetically linked (they were brothers) but they also shared a passion between the two of them. The passion was a passion for cars. Hence they began collecting cars in the late 1940's. Since then the collection grew, and another idea had sparked between the two - they had thought about displaying their collection. Hence the Pate Museum of Transportation was born located on U.S. 377 between Fort Worth and Cresson, Texas.
That is right; it was a museum of transportation, not just cars. This meant that they had collected more than just cars. Amongst the collections was a yellow submarine, helicopters besides just cars. When they had first begun there were only 15 cars in the collection to be displayed. As the years went on, the Museum of Transportation grew until it amassed a total of 68 antique cars and other forms of transportation too, like the submarine, a minesweeper boat, aircrafts and a private railroad car. Aside from just vehicles, the museum also held books - 1500 volume of books were made into a library in part of the museum. Entrance to the museum was free and it opened from 9:00a.m right up till 5:00p.m from Tuesdays right till Sundays (it closed on Mondays; for upkeep and maintenance jobs) Sadly though, as of 2010 the museum as closed down. No one knows for certain the exact reason why the museum had closed down. However one thing is for sure, the Pate legacy would still live on. This is very much evident as the Pate Swap Meet car exhibitions still carry on - the last was held on April 28th, 2011 till May 1st, 2011. Carrying on with the main goal that drove the Pate brothers, that is to showcase their cars, the swap meet does exactly what was intended when the museum first opened.
The Pate Swap Meet car exhibition had begun in 1972 and is still going on strong, despite the museum being closed. The Pate Swap Meet car exhibition was an idea of a Barney Calvert who was at the time a member of the Antique Automobile Club of America. After seeing and drawing inspiration from the Hershey Swap Meet car exhibition, he approached the Pate brothers with the idea; which needless to say, went down well with the brothers. From the year 1972 till right now in 2011, the Pate Swap Meet car exhibition has continued on, having last met in the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas (located 20 miles north of downtown Fort Worth, at the corner of Interstate 35W and State Highway 114). The Pate Swap Meet car exhibition is also a fund raising attempt of 17 Texas antique automobile clubs. It is one of the three largest swap meets in the United States of America. It has more than a quarter of a century of heritage and is recognized internationally due to its diversity of products in the automotive industry that are offered by its vendors.
Vendors come from all across the nation to fill up the spaces that are available and offer their goods or services, offering anything and everything to do with the automotive industry - from cars to rare equipment and the likes of it. There are so many great car shows out there, don't limit yourself to just one showing.
Be sure to check out the cars at carlisle show as well as the sema and pebble beach shows that occur every year!
The Pate Swap Meet car exhibition will definitely continue to progress as it has already built a name for itself. Therefore, even though the museum has come to a close, the show must go on, as the saying goes - and it definitely will for years to come still. As we can see from this year's show that went on despite the closure of the museum. Surely the Pate family legacy will continue to live on through these shows.
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