In late 2005, Brownsville Historical Association opened the newly refurbished Heritage Resource Center to the public. The refurbishment was funded in part by the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation. The center is the repository for the photographs, documents, textiles and objects entrusted to Brownsville Historical Association. This facility serves as a research office to assist students, scholars and the general public in the study of local history. The BHA has one of the most extensive photo collections in South Texas. The Heritage Resource Center is also home to the A. A. Champion Historical Papers, a library and archives of the Champion family. The archives document the history of the lower Rio Grande Valley. In addition to these papers, the Heritage Resource Center also houses the Frank Cushman Pierce Papers, which also document the history of the area. Both of these series of papers are available to the public for research. The Heritage Resource Center also houses the BHA library, which includes many research books and scholarly materials about the history of Brownsville and the surrounding area.

 

In March 2006, the Heritage Resource Center became the first museum and archive center in the Rio Grande Valley to offer public access to digitized collections.  The digitization of the collections was accomplished through the support of the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation.