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CRESSON — It is an unlikely place for some of the world’s finest pieces of craftsmanship.

Warehoused in an unheated building about halfway between Fort Worth and Granbury for the last 40 years is a free museum dedicated to some of the most impressive cars ever produced, the result of the unbridled passion and pocketbook of Fort Worth businessman A.M. "Aggie" Pate Jr.

Too numerous to catalog, the million-dollar collection includes a 1937 Rolls-Royce Sedanca, a ’41 Cadillac convertible sedan, a ’53 Buick Skylark convertible, a ’29 Packard touring car, a ’50 Soviet limousine, a ’35 Aston Martin Mark II, even the ’62 Checker cab that Lee Harvey Oswald hopped in after he shot President John F. Kennedy.

Over the years, Pate added military airplanes, a mine sweeper, a periscope and space memorabilia. More than a few relatives and friends were amazed that he could amass so many pieces for the Pate Museum of Transportation on what was then a two-lane road in Parker County.

But time is running out. The museum is shutting down at the end of the day Christmas Eve.

"It’s been hard on all of us to reach this decision," said Sharon Pate, his daughter. "We grew up out here in the summer. He loved to sit on the front porch and visit with people. We all have our emotional ties to this place."

Closing down

Aggie Pate died in 1988. His brother, Sebert, died this year. Some of the children are not involved in the museum at all. Giving is down, and an admission charge is out of the question. The building housing the cars needs a lot of work. The insurance is expensive. Several years ago, the Air Force started reclaiming the aircraft because of their poor condition.

It has all become a bit too much for the family.

"Maybe the cars need new homes," Sharon Pate said.

Nothing will be done immediately, she said, while she and her brother, Pat Pate, discuss what happens next.

If the cars are auctioned off, the money will go to the Pate Foundation — the nonprofit that operates the museum — to support charities in Fort Worth, she said. Other museums are supposed to come get the remaining aircraft.

The museum’s lone employee, Bill Peter, a one-of-a-kind character as well, is devastated by the museum’s closing. The mere subject causes his eyes to moisten.

"This is not just a museum," he said. "It’s not just a man’s collection. This place is about our heritage."

The museum’s origins

Aggie Pate, whose father started what is now known as the Texas Refinery Corp. in north Fort Worth, bought the ’29 Packard "645" touring car for $250 in 1945 and had it restored several years later. He started buying more cars over the years.

In 1967, on a trip to Denver for a car auction, he bought so many cars that he had to have them shipped back by train.

That’s when his idea for a museum took off.

Collectors in Dallas, Fredericksburg and other places donated more cars, and two years later, he opened the museum on 185 acres that his company owned near Cresson.