Topic
History & Culture
Texas has stories you will not find anywhere else — six flags over one state, missions and cattle trails, oil booms and ghost towns, courthouse squares and county namesakes. Pull up a chair for the history and culture that gives each Texas place its character.
Local Notes
History & Culture notes
Anderson County · History / Economy
A Railroad Bond in 1875 Doubled Palestine's Population
In 1875, Anderson County voters approved a $150,000 bond to bring the International-Great Northern Railroad's shops to Palestine. Within five years, the county's population nearly doubled.
Anderson County · County history
Anderson County Was Named for the Last Vice President of the Republic of Texas
Anderson County was created in 1846 from Houston County. It was named after Kenneth Lewis Anderson, the last vice president of the Republic of Texas, who died in office in 1845.
Anderson County · History / Railroad
Palestine Is a Terminus of the Texas State Railroad
The Texas State Railroad runs between Palestine and Rusk on a historic route originally built by the state prison system in the late 1800s — today it operates as a steam excursion railroad.
Anderson County · Local identity / Parks
Palestine Is Texas's Official Dogwood Trails Capital
The Texas Legislature named Palestine the Dogwood Trails Capital of Texas in 2023. The city has held an annual Dogwood Trails Celebration since 1938, centered on Davey Dogwood Park.
Andrews County · History
Andrews County: named for a Revolution hero, built by oil
Andrews County takes its name from Richard Andrews, one of the first men to die in the Texas Revolution, and later became an oil powerhouse after a gusher struck in 1929.
Angelina County · History
Angelina County is named after a Hasinai Caddo woman from the 1690s
The county takes its name from a Hainai woman known as Angelina. Spanish records say she helped missionaries in East Texas around 1690 and worked as an interpreter.
Angelina County · History
Lufkin grew from a railroad stop into an East Texas lumber and paper hub
Lufkin was founded in 1882 as a stop on the Houston, East and West Texas Railway and grew into a major center of the East Texas timber industry — a history documented at the Texas Forestry Museum.
Aransas County · History
How Aransas County Grew: From Cattle Packeries to Shrimping
Aransas County was formed in 1871 out of Refugio County, with Rockport as its seat. The town started with cattle slaughter and shipping, then shifted to fishing, shrimping, and tourism.
Archer County · History / Literature
Archer City is the hometown of novelist Larry McMurtry
Larry McMurtry grew up in Archer City. He based much of his early fiction on the town, and the 1971 film of The Last Picture Show was shot there.
Armstrong County · History / Ranching
The JA Ranch: A National Historic Landmark Still Operating in Armstrong County
The JA Ranch in Palo Duro Canyon was founded in 1876 by Charles Goodnight and John Adair. It is the oldest continuously operating cattle ranch in the Texas Panhandle and a National Historic Landmark.
Atascosa County · History / Architecture
Atascosa County Courthouse: the only Mission Revival courthouse in Texas
The 1912 courthouse in Jourdanton is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Texas Historical Commission says it is the only Mission Revival courthouse still standing in Texas.
Atascosa County · History / Agriculture
Poteet and the strawberry heritage of Atascosa County
Poteet in southern Atascosa County became a strawberry hub in the early 1900s. The town has held an annual festival since 1948 to celebrate that history.
Atascosa County · History / Tejano heritage
Rancho del Atascoso: the county's deep roots in Spanish mission ranching
Long before Anglo settlement, this land was ranched by mission-connected communities. Mexican and Tejano land grants shaped who owned the county in its early years.
Austin County · History / Immigration
Austin County was a gateway for German and Czech immigrants to Texas
The towns of Industry and Cat Spring in Austin County were two of the earliest immigrant settlements in Texas. Industry was the first permanent German settlement. Cat Spring was the main starting point for Czech immigrants spreading across the state.
Austin County · History / State historic site
San Felipe de Austin was the original capital of Texas's first Anglo colony
The San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site in Austin County preserves the townsite of the first colonial capital of Stephen F. Austin's settlement — burned by its own residents during the Texas Revolution and now open to the public with a museum and trails.
Bailey County · History
Bailey County Was XIT Ranch Territory Before Becoming Farm Country
Bailey County was named for an Alamo defender, spent its early years as part of the giant XIT Ranch, and became cotton and grain farmland after the railroad arrived in 1913.
Bandera County · History
Bandera County grew from a sawmill settlement into a cattle trail hub
Bandera County was carved from Bexar County in 1856. It was built first on cypress lumber, then on cattle drives. Polish Catholic immigrants were among its earliest settlers.
Bastrop County · History
CCC Craftsmen Built Bastrop State Park in the 1930s
Bastrop State Park's stone cabins, refectory, and trails were built by Civilian Conservation Corps workers starting in 1933. That work earned the park National Historic Landmark status in 1997.
Bastrop County · History
The Man Behind the Name: Baron de Bastrop
Bastrop County is named for Felipe Enrique Neri — a Dutch man who called himself Baron de Bastrop and helped Stephen F. Austin secure land grants from Mexico.
Baylor County · History
How Baylor County and Seymour came to be
Baylor County was created in 1858 and organized in 1879, with Seymour as the county seat. Cattle, cotton, and wheat built the early economy, and oil arrived in 1924.
Bee County · History / Military
Chase Field: Bee County's Former Naval Air Station
Naval Air Station Chase Field operated near Beeville from 1943 to 1993, training Navy and Marine jet pilots before closing after the Cold War.
Bee County · History / Architecture
The Bee County Courthouse: A Beaux Arts Landmark in Beeville
The 1913 Bee County Courthouse in Beeville was restored with state funding through the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program.
Bell County · History / Courthouse
Bell County Courthouse: Belton's 1884 landmark
The Bell County Courthouse in Belton, completed in 1884 from local limestone, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and anchors the county seat's historic downtown.
Bell County · History / Military
Fort Hood and Bell County's military history
Fort Hood, established in 1942 near Killeen, transformed Bell County from a farming region into one of the most military-connected communities in the United States.
Bell County · History
How Bell County was settled and who was here first
Bell County was created by Texas in 1850 and named for Governor Peter H. Bell. The land had been home to Tonkawa, Lipan Apache, and Comanche peoples before Anglo settlers arrived in the 1830s.
Bell County · History / Natural landmark
Salado Springs and the Chisholm Trail in Bell County
The Salado Springs in southern Bell County are artesian springs that were a major water stop on the Chisholm Trail cattle drives from the 1860s through 1885.
Bell County · Geography / History
The Balcones Escarpment divides Bell County into two different landscapes
The Balcones Escarpment runs through Bell County, separating flat Blackland Prairie to the east from rockier limestone terrain to the west.
Bell County · History / Social
The Belton Woman's Commonwealth: a 19th-century self-governing commune
A group of Protestant women in Belton formed a self-supporting commune in the 1870s, ran a hotel and laundry, and left behind the foundation for the city's first public library.
Bell County · History / Education
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor: from republic-era charter to Belton campus
The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton traces its roots to 1845, when the Republic of Texas chartered it as the women's division of what became Baylor University.
Bexar County · History / Culture
African American history in San Antonio stretches from slavery through the Civil Rights era
San Antonio's East Side grew as a center of African American life after emancipation. The Black community there shaped the city's culture, churches, and civil rights history.
Bexar County · Demographics
Bexar County is one of Texas's fastest-growing metro counties
Bexar County had about 2,009,324 residents as of the 2020 Census and has continued growing, making it the fourth most populous county in Texas.
Bexar County · History / Records
Bexar County's Spanish Archives are among the oldest government records in the US
The Bexar County Clerk's Spanish Archives hold thousands of documents from the early 1700s. They are among the most important colonial-era government records in Texas.
Bexar County · History
Canary Island settlers founded Texas's first civilian government in San Antonio in 1731
Fifty-six colonists from the Canary Islands arrived in San Antonio in 1731 and established San Fernando de Béxar—the first formally organized civil government in Texas—and their descendants shaped the city for generations.
Bexar County · History / Trails
El Camino Real de Los Tejas National Historic Trail runs through Bexar County
El Camino Real de Los Tejas—the Royal Road to Texas—passed through what is now Bexar County. Congress made it a National Historic Trail in 2004.
Bexar County · History / Culture
German immigrants shaped the Hill Country towns surrounding Bexar County
German immigrants arrived in the Texas Hill Country starting in the 1840s. They built towns just outside Bexar County whose food, music, and buildings still shape San Antonio today.
Bexar County · History
San Antonio was founded in 1718 as a Spanish colonial outpost
Spanish Governor Martín de Alarcón founded San Antonio in May 1718. He built a fort, a mission, and the start of a civilian settlement along the San Antonio River.
Bexar County · History / Culture
Tejanos have been central to Bexar County from its founding through the Texas Revolution
Tejanos—Texans of Mexican descent—helped found San Antonio, fought for Texas independence, and shaped the city's culture and politics for over three centuries.
Bexar County · History
The Battle of the Alamo in 1836 became the defining event of the Texas Revolution
The 13-day siege at the Alamo in February and March 1836, where roughly 200 Texian defenders faced the Mexican Army under Santa Anna, became a rallying symbol for Texas independence.
Bexar County · History / Culture
The San Antonio River Walk grew from a flood-control project into an urban landmark
The Paseo del Rio—San Antonio's River Walk—began as a flood-control effort in the early 20th century and was transformed over decades into a 13-mile linear park that runs from Brackenridge Park through downtown to the Spanish missions.
Blanco County · History / County origins
Blanco County Had Two County Seats — and Two Courthouses
Blanco County was created in 1858 with the town of Blanco as its seat, but a contested move in 1891 shifted county government to Johnson City — leaving behind an 1885 limestone courthouse that still stands today.
Blanco County · History / National park
LBJ National Historical Park Has Sites in and Near Johnson City
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park preserves sites tied to the 36th president across two districts, including his boyhood home in Johnson City and his working ranch along the Pedernales River.
Borden County · History
Borden County and Its Seat, Gail, Are Both Named for the Same Man
Borden County was created in 1876 and named for Gail Borden Jr., a Texas patriot, surveyor, and inventor, whose name also became the county seat when it was established in 1891.
Bosque County · History
Bosque County was home to a significant Norwegian immigrant community starting in 1854
Starting in 1854, Norwegian immigrants settled in a triangle around present-day Clifton, Norse, and Cranfills Gap, creating a lasting cultural presence still visible in the area today.
Bosque County · History / Architecture
The 1886 Bosque County Courthouse was restored to its Victorian design in 2007
The Bosque County Courthouse in Meridian is a three-story limestone building from 1886, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and restored between 2005 and 2007 with Texas Historical Commission support.
Bowie County · History / Economy
A WWII military complex in Bowie County is now one of the largest industrial parks in the Americas
The Red River Army Depot and Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant, built on nearly 40,000 acres in Bowie County starting in 1941, shaped the county's growth and now operate in part as TexAmericas Center, a large industrial redevelopment.
Bowie County · History / Local government
Bowie County's legal county seat is Boston, but the courthouse is in New Boston
Bowie County, established in 1840 and named for Alamo defender James Bowie, has had its county seat moved more than once — the legal seat is still Boston, but county offices have operated in New Boston since a new courthouse was built there in 1986.
Bowie County · History
Texarkana's Federal Building straddles the Texas–Arkansas state line
The United States Post Office and Courthouse in downtown Texarkana was built in 1933 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places — it is the only federal building in the country that sits in two states at once.
Brazoria County · History
Brazoria County Is Where the Republic of Texas Was Born
Brazoria County was settled by Stephen F. Austin's first authorized colonists in 1821, hosted the treaties that ended the Texas Revolution, and served as the site of the Republic of Texas's first capital.
Brazoria County · History / Industry
Dow Chemical Built Lake Jackson as a Planned Company Town in 1941
Dow Chemical chose Freeport for a major World War II-era manufacturing plant and then built the city of Lake Jackson from scratch to house its workforce, transforming the county's economy and population.
Brazoria County · History / Industry
Oil and Sulfur Mining Shaped Brazoria County's Economy Before Petrochemicals Arrived
Brazoria County had significant oil production beginning in 1901 and became a leading sulfur-producing county in the early 20th century, laying the groundwork for the later petrochemical industry.
Brazoria County · History
West Columbia Served as the First Capital of the Republic of Texas
The town of Columbia — present-day West Columbia in Brazoria County — was the seat of Texas's first elected government in 1836, where Sam Houston took the presidential oath and Stephen F. Austin died.
Brazos County · History
Brazos County: from Stephen F. Austin's colony to county seat at Bryan
Brazos County was created in 1841, originally named Navasota County, and moved its county seat from Boonville to Bryan in 1866 to follow the railroad.
Brazos County · History
Downtown Bryan's National Register Historic District
Downtown Bryan was added to the National Register of Historic Places in February 2026. It is known for its railroad-era buildings and its unusual diamond-shaped street grid.
Brazos County · History
Hall's Town: Bryan's Freedman community after the Civil War
Newly freed Black residents began buying land in Bryan's Hall's Addition as early as 1867, forming one of the county's first Freedman communities on the northeast edge of town.
Brazos County · History
Millican: the railroad town that boomed and faded in Brazos County
Millican was briefly one of the largest towns in Texas during the Civil War era when it was the Houston and Texas Central Railroad's northern end point, but it faded after the rails pushed north.
Brazos County · History
Texas A&M: Brazos County's land-grant university
Texas A&M University opened in College Station in 1876 on land donated by Brazos County residents. It was the first public college in Texas.
Brewster County · History / Historic District
Alpine's downtown was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2026
Alpine's downtown was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in spring 2026. The district spans about 40 blocks and includes nearly 300 buildings and sites near the Union Pacific tracks.
Brewster County · History / Mining
Terlingua's mercury mines drove Brewster County's early economy
The Chisos Mining Company at Terlingua was once a major U.S. mercury producer. When it collapsed, it left behind what is now called Terlingua Ghost Town.
Briscoe County · History
Tule Canyon and the End of the Comanche Era
Tule Canyon in Briscoe County was the site of a key 1874 military campaign. That campaign ended Comanche and Kiowa control of the Southern Plains and opened the door to the ranching and farming era that shaped the county.
Brooks County · History
How Brooks County Was Built: Ranching, Railroad, and Tejano Roots
Brooks County was formed from Starr County in 1911. It grew from a ranching tradition that goes back to Spanish and Mexican land grants from the late 1700s.
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