Topic · Page 11
History & Culture
Local Notes
History & Culture notes
Loving County · County History
Loving County Was Organized Twice — Oil Made It Stick
Loving County was first organized in 1893 under fraudulent circumstances and collapsed; it was reorganized in 1931 after oil was discovered, and its population has remained among the smallest of any county in the country.
Lubbock County · Regional Role
A 121-County Service Map Starts in Lubbock
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center's flagship campus is in Lubbock, and the institution now defines a 121-county service line.
Lubbock County · Music history
Lubbock Claims Buddy Holly — and Built a Center for It
The city-run Buddy Holly Center preserves the legacy of Lubbock's most famous son and the broader music story of West Texas.
Lubbock County · Agriculture
Lubbock County Is One of Texas's Top Cotton Producers
Cotton farming has shaped Lubbock County's economy and landscape for nearly a century, making it one of the most productive cotton-growing regions in the state.
Lubbock County · Archaeology
Lubbock Lake Landmark Holds 12,000 Years of Plains History
Lubbock Lake Landmark, in a bend of Yellowhouse Draw, preserves one of the longest unbroken records of human life on the Southern High Plains.
Lubbock County · Military history
Silent Wings Museum Tells Lubbock's WWII Glider Story
At the Lubbock airport, the city-run Silent Wings Museum preserves the history of the WWII glider program that trained most of the nation's combat glider pilots on the High Plains.
Lubbock County · Higher Education
Six Buildings Grew into a Landmark Campus
Texas Technological College opened in Lubbock in 1925 with six buildings and 914 students, all wrapped in an architectural idea made for the High Plains.
Lubbock County · Historic chapel
St. Paul's Chapel Is Lubbock's Oldest Church Building
Built in 1913, St. Paul's on the Plains Chapel is the oldest existing church building in Lubbock, twice moved and now restored in Clapp Park.
Lubbock County · Disaster History
The 1970 Tornado Became a Study of Hidden Vortices
The F5 tornado that crossed Lubbock on May 11, 1970, left a tragic damage path that helped reveal smaller vortices turning inside a tornado.
Lubbock County · County History
The County Was Named for a Confederate Ranger, Not the City
Lubbock County was created in 1876 and named after Colonel Thomas S. Lubbock, a Texas Ranger who later served as a Confederate officer.
Lubbock County · Ranching heritage
The National Ranching Heritage Center Is a Whole Ranch Town
On the edge of the Texas Tech campus, the National Ranching Heritage Center walks you through more than 50 real ranch buildings rescued from across the region.
Lynn County · County History
Lynn County grew from open range to cotton fields in just a generation
Lynn County was created in 1876 but sat unorganized for nearly 30 years, then transformed quickly from cattle ranches into one of the High Plains' major cotton producers.
Madison County · County History
Madisonville Began With 200 Acres and a Log Courthouse
Madison County formed from Grimes, Walker, and Leon counties in 1853; its new county seat took President James Madison's name and started on donated land.
Madison County · Local Identity
Madisonville's Mushroom Festival Grew Out of a Working Plant
Madisonville's October mushroom traditions trace back to a processing plant that became a major local employer in the late twentieth century.
Madison County · Railroad Town
North Zulch Grew Where the Railroad Needed Water
North Zulch grew from a two-mile move to the tracks, where steam-engine reservoirs, telegraph service, a school, and a post office gathered a new community.
Madison County · Downtown History
The Woodbine Hotel Still Marks Madisonville's Railroad Years
Two joined kit houses, East Texas pine, and hand-carved bluebonnets make the 1904 Woodbine Hotel a vivid survivor of Madisonville's railroad years.
Marion County · Historic District
Jefferson's downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places
A 47-block area of Jefferson was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, preserving dozens of 19th-century buildings from the town's days as Texas's leading inland port.
Marion County · County Origins
Marion County was carved from Cass County in 1860 and named for a Revolutionary War hero
Marion County was created on February 8, 1860, from the southern part of Cass County, and named for Francis Marion — the 'Swamp Fox' of the American Revolution.
Marion County · Historic Courthouse
The 1913 Marion County Courthouse was restored and reopened in 2021
The Marion County Courthouse in Jefferson was built in 1913 and underwent a full historic restoration, finishing with a ribbon-cutting in May 2021, under the Texas Historical Commission's courthouse program.
Martin County · Local History
Stanton Has Worn Three Names and Has Deep Roots in Oil and Farming
Martin County's county seat has a layered past, with railroad settlers, German Catholic immigrants, a cotton boom, and then oil all shaping the town now called Stanton.
Martin County · Local Landmark
Stanton's Old Monastery Has Four-Foot Adobe Walls
The last Carmelite building at Stanton's old Marienfeld colony still stands about 200 feet behind its sidewalk marker on Carpenter Street.
Martin County · Community History
Tarzan Took Shape Around a Two-Room School and a Store
Martin County's Tarzan began with a two-room school and a store before postal officials chose its memorable name in 1927.
Mason County · County history
German Settlers and Fort Mason Shaped This County
Mason County was carved out of frontier territory in 1858 and settled largely by German immigrants whose influence still shows in local family names, architecture, and culture.
Matagorda County · Major Industry
A large nuclear power plant operates in this county
The South Texas Project nuclear power plant, about 12 miles south of Bay City, is one of the largest nuclear stations in the country and a major local employer.
Matagorda County · Local History
Bay City replaced an older town as the county seat in 1894
Bay City was founded in 1894 on the Bay Prairie between the Colorado River and Caney Creek, then quickly grew into a railroad and rice-farming hub.
Matagorda County · County History
Matagorda County was one of Texas's first counties
Organized in 1836, Matagorda County is among the original 23 counties created when Texas became a republic.
Maverick County · Culture & Community
Eagle Pass Is a Deeply Bicultural Border City
Eagle Pass and its sister city Piedras Negras, Mexico share deep economic and cultural ties across the Rio Grande.
Maverick County · Civil War History
Eagle Pass Was a Key Confederate Cotton Port
During the Civil War, Eagle Pass became an important shipment point for Confederate cotton exports after Union forces occupied Brownsville, making it one of the most active border crossings in the South.
Maverick County · Old Roads
El Camino Real Crossed the River Near Eagle Pass
A Texas Historical Commission marker places El Camino Real's hard-traveled river crossing near Eagle Pass.
Maverick County · Military History
Fort Duncan Shaped Eagle Pass From the Start
Fort Duncan, established in 1849, was the military anchor that turned a river crossing into the city of Eagle Pass.
Maverick County · Downtown Plaza
San Juan Plaza Gives Eagle Pass a Green Pause
San Juan Plaza packs a walking trail, 12 benches, a gazebo, a kiosk, and mature trees into 3.2 downtown acres.
Maverick County · Arts District
The 300 Block Gives Downtown Eagle Pass an Arts Anchor
The City of Eagle Pass Art and Culture Center opened in 2020 with classes, live music, exhibits, and space for artists in the downtown 300 Block district.
Maverick County · County Origins
The County Is Named for a Man Who Didn't Brand His Cattle
Maverick County was created in 1856 and named for Samuel A. Maverick, a Texas land owner whose unbranded cattle gave the English language a new word.
McCulloch County · Agriculture History
McCulloch County built its economy on cattle, sheep, and goats
Cattle drives, wool, mohair, and later turkey farming shaped McCulloch County's farm economy from the 1870s onward.
McCulloch County · Local Landmark
The geographic center of Texas is in McCulloch County
The geographic center of Texas is 16 miles northeast of Brady in McCulloch County. Brady has embraced that fact as part of its local identity.
McLennan County · Higher Education
Baylor University Has Called Waco Home Since 1887
Baylor University relocated to Waco in 1887 and remains a major presence in McLennan County's economy and culture.
McLennan County · County History
McLennan County Was Created in 1850
McLennan County was established in January 1850 and named after Neil McLennan, a Scottish settler who came to Texas in 1835 and moved to the Bosque River area in the 1840s.
McLennan County · Disaster History
The 1953 Waco Tornado Killed 114 People
On May 11, 1953, a tornado traveled from near Lorena into downtown Waco, killing 114 people and changing how weather warnings were handled.
McLennan County · Museum
The Mayborn Is Waco's Rainy-Day Museum: Mammoths, Fossils, and an 1890s Village
On Baylor's campus, the Mayborn Museum tells the natural and human story of Central Texas, with a walk-in mammoth diorama, hands-on discovery rooms, and a relocated 1890s village out back.
McLennan County · Indigenous History
Waco Gets Its Name From the Waco Indian Village
The city of Waco is built on the site of an agricultural village of the Waco (Huaco) people that had hundreds of residents in the early 1800s.
McLennan County · Local History
Waco Grew Up as a Cattle Town on the Chisholm Trail
After the Civil War, Waco became a major cattle crossing point, with hundreds of thousands of cattle driven through town by 1871.
McLennan County · National Monument
Waco Has a National Monument With Mammoth Fossils
A bone found in a Waco ravine in 1978 led to the discovery of a Columbian mammoth nursery herd that the National Park Service calls the nation's first and only recorded one.
McLennan County · Civic identity
Waco's Flag Turns the Brazos and Bosque Into Parallel Lines
Waco replaced a 1985 Suspension Bridge flag with a spare design built from the Brazos, the Bosque, city blues, and the Flying W.
McLennan County · Waco zoo
Waco's Zoo Traveled From an Airfield Fire Station to Cameron Park
Waco's zoo began with a 1955 fair exhibit, spent its early years in a former airfield fire station, and finally opened in Cameron Park in 1993.
McLennan County · State history
Why the Official Home of the Texas Rangers Sits in Waco
The state of Texas named the museum just off I-35 in Waco the official historical center of the Texas Rangers, and a working Ranger company still keeps its headquarters there.
McMullen County · Local History
How Tilden Became the County Seat
Tilden started as a rough frontier settlement in 1858 and became the county seat when McMullen County was organized in 1877.
Medina County · History & Settlement
Castroville Was Built by Alsatian Settlers in 1844 and Still Shows It
Castroville, about 25 miles west of San Antonio, was founded by mostly Catholic Alsatian immigrants in 1844 and retains 97 historic buildings from that era.
Medina County · Settlement & Railroads
D'Hanis Still Carries the Split Between Old D'Hanis and the Rail Town
The D'Hanis people drive through today grew after the railroad bypassed the older settlement about a mile east.
Medina County · History & County Seat
Hondo Became the County Seat After the Railroad Arrived in 1881
Hondo replaced Castroville as the Medina County seat in 1892, largely because the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway passed through Hondo, not Castroville.
Medina County · Wartime Hondo
Hondo's Airfield Footprint Came From 1942
Hondo added a 3,675-acre Army airfield in 1942, and the closed base kept shaping the town after the war.
Medina County · River Commerce
Landmark Inn Was a Store, Stage Stop, Mill, and Power Plant
One Castroville river lot carried a store, a stage stop, a gristmill, a cotton gin, hotel rooms, and later electric power.
Medina County · Community Identity
Quihi Is a Small-Place Thread You Can Still Follow
Quihi's creek crossing, church, school history, and old shooting club give Medina County a small-community layer beyond the larger towns.
Menard County · Spanish Colonial History
A Spanish mission and presidio once stood near present-day Menard
In 1757, the Spanish built Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá and Presidio San Luis de las Amarillas on the San Saba River near what is now the town of Menard.
Menard County · Historic Site
Fort McKavett preserves a frontier Army post in Menard County
Fort McKavett State Historic Site sits in Menard County and preserves one of West Texas's best-surviving frontier Army forts, with ties to the Buffalo Soldiers.
Midland County · Prehistoric History
Ancient human remains found near Midland hint at early inhabitants
Fossilized human remains called Midland Minnie were discovered in Midland County and are tentatively linked to late Pleistocene-era people who lived in the region thousands of years ago.
Midland County · County Origins
Midland County got its name from the railroad running halfway across Texas
Midland County was organized in 1885 and named for its location at the midpoint of the Texas and Pacific Railway between Fort Worth and El Paso.
Midland County · Oil Boom
Oil transformed Midland from a small ranching town into a regional city
Midland County's first major oil production came in 1945, and by the 1950s the city had become the corporate headquarters of the Permian Basin petroleum industry.
Midland County · County Seat
The city of Midland is both county seat and the business hub of the Permian Basin
Midland is the county seat of Midland County and serves as the corporate and administrative center for the oil and gas industry across the broader Permian Basin region.
Midland County · Permian Basin Geology
The Permian Basin beneath Midland County holds some of the deepest oil deposits in Texas
Midland County sits atop the Midland Basin, part of the larger Permian Basin that formed when an ancient sea retreated and left thick layers of rock that trapped oil and gas.
Milam County · Blackland Town
Buckholts Grew from Blackland Soil and a Donated Townsite
Buckholts started with railroad land, then drew farm families to the blackland soils northwest of Cameron.