Topic · Page 14
History & Culture
Local Notes
History & Culture notes
Real County · County History
How Real County Came to Be — and Why Goats Were Central
Real County was carved out of three counties in 1913, largely because residents were too isolated from the nearest courthouses, and its early economy ran on angora goats.
Real County · Park History
The CCC Built Garner State Park in the 1930s
Depression-era workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps built most of what you see at Garner State Park between 1935 and 1941.
Red River County · Local History
Clarksville Was One of the Earliest Towns in the Republic of Texas
Red River County was established in 1837 and Clarksville served as the main trading hub for northwest Texas for decades before railroads shifted commerce elsewhere.
Red River County · Railroad Towns
The Railroad Redrew Red River County's Town Map
The Texas and Pacific arrived in 1876. Post offices moved toward the tracks, and four communities became shipping points.
Red River County · Landscape
Two Rivers Hold Red River County Between Them
The Red River forms the county's north edge and the Sulphur its south, with rolling timberland and wooded creeks between them.
Reeves County · Balmorhea
Balmorhea Fits Four Developers Into One Word
Balcom, Morrow, and two Rhea brothers folded their surnames into Balmorhea while building an irrigation company around spring water.
Reeves County · Rodeo History
Pecos's 1883 Rodeo Ribbons Came From a Child's Dress
An Independence Day roping contest drew its prizes from a little girl's new blue dress, giving Pecos an unusually specific rodeo beginning.
Reeves County · Historic Building
Pecos's Orient Hotel Started as a Red-Sandstone Saloon
The building that houses the West of the Pecos Museum began as an 1896 saloon before the Orient Hotel opened around it in 1907.
Reeves County · County History
Reeves County grew from ranching, then oil, in a dry West Texas landscape
Reeves County was carved out of Pecos County in 1883 and built its economy on cattle ranching, the railroad, and eventually oil and gas.
Reeves County · Toyah
Toyah Got Tracks and a Post Office in the Same Year
Texas and Pacific tracks, railroad section houses, and a post office arrived in 1881, turning Toyah into a shipping point for ranch country.
Refugio County · History & Identity
Refugio County takes its name from a Spanish mission founded in 1793
The county seat of Refugio and the county itself are both named after the Nuestra Senora del Refugio Mission, one of the last Spanish missions established in Texas.
Roberts County · Local History
Roberts County grew out of open-range cattle ranching in the 1870s and 1880s
Roberts County was carved from large ranching operations after the Army pushed out Comanche and Kiowa bands in 1874-75. Its county seat Miami still hosts a National Cow Calling Contest that has run every year since 1949.
Robertson County · Calvert History
Calvert Moved Two Miles to Meet the Railroad
The 1868 rail route drew an older settlement to a new townsite, where cotton trade left a courthouse, foundry, brick, and iron.
Robertson County · County History
Robertson County Has Had Five Different County Seats
Robertson County was founded in 1837 and moved its county seat five times before settling in Franklin, a history tied to early Texas settlement and Reconstruction.
Rockwall County · Indigenous History
Caddo people lived in the Rockwall County area before Anglo settlement
The area that is now Rockwall County was home to Caddo and Creek peoples in the early 1800s. Anglo-American settlers arrived in the 1840s.
Rockwall County · Agricultural History
Railroads transformed Rockwall County from a cattle county to a cotton county
Before the railroads came in the 1870s and 1880s, Rockwall County's economy was built on cattle — the railroads shifted it toward cotton, which peaked in 1930.
Rockwall County · Growth & Development
Rockwall County grew from 7,000 people in 1970 to over 100,000 by 2019
Once a quiet agricultural county, Rockwall has become one of the fastest-growing parts of the DFW metro since Lake Ray Hubbard opened in 1969.
Rockwall County · County History
Rockwall County Split From Kaufman County in 1873
Rockwall County began as the northern part of Kaufman County, then became its own county in 1873 after residents found the Kaufman county seat too far away.
Rockwall County · Early Settlement
Rockwall County's first Anglo-American settler arrived in 1846
John O. Heath was the first Anglo-American settler in the area, arriving in 1846 when the land was still part of Kaufman County.
Rockwall County · County Identity
Rockwall is the smallest county in Texas by land area
At only 147 square miles, Rockwall is the smallest county in Texas, a fact that shapes everything from its rapid growth to the tight-knit feel of its communities.
Rockwall County · Place Name Origin
The county gets its name from a strange underground rock formation
In 1851, farmers digging a well found a strange rock wall running underground. That formation gave the county and its county seat their names.
Runnels County · County History
How Ballinger Became the County Seat
Runnels County was created in 1858 and named for a Mississippi governor, but Ballinger only became the county seat in 1888 when the railroad arrived and beat out the earlier county seat of Runnels City.
Rusk County · Railroad History
A Sixteen-Mile Railroad Kept Henderson on the Map
Henderson missed the main railroad, so a short local line reached east to Overton and gave the town its own connection in 1877.
Rusk County · Historic Downtown
Downtown Henderson Is More Than a Courthouse Square
Henderson's old commercial blocks form a National Register district wrapped around the courthouse streets.
Rusk County · County Seat
Henderson Is the County Seat and Central Hub for Services
Henderson has been Rusk County's seat of government since the county was organized in 1843 and is where you go for most county services.
Rusk County · Piney Woods Identity
Mount Enterprise Grew From Iron, Pine, and a Small Hill
Mount Enterprise's name and early work grew from a small rise, Vinson family manufacturing, iron ore, and Piney Woods lumber.
Rusk County · Historic Tragedy
The 1937 New London School Explosion Shaped Natural Gas Safety Law
On March 18, 1937, a natural gas explosion destroyed a school in New London, killing nearly 300 students and teachers and prompting Texas to require odor added to natural gas.
Rusk County · Oil Boom History
The East Texas Oilfield Changed This County Forever
The discovery of oil in Rusk County in 1930 opened the East Texas Oilfield and transformed the region from a quiet farming area into a boomtown almost overnight.
Sabine County · County History
How Sabine County and Hemphill Got Their Start
Sabine County was established in 1837, and the Ais tribe of the Caddo people lived in the region long before European settlers arrived.
San Augustine County · Local History
San Augustine: One of Texas's Oldest Towns
San Augustine was a key town during the Texas Revolution and one of the first county seats organized under the Republic of Texas in 1837.
San Jacinto County · Timber Town
Oakhurst Was a Sawmill Town Before the Mill Went Quiet
Oakhurst's story runs through oak woods, a lumber-company mill, a short-line railroad, Liberty bonds, and a Depression-era CCC camp.
San Jacinto County · Old Town
Old Coldspring Is Remembered by Its Jail
After the 1915 courthouse fire, Coldspring moved uphill; the old jail is the piece that still points back to the earlier townsite.
San Jacinto County · Place Name
Point Blank Started as Blanc Point
Point Blank's name traces to Florence Dissiway, a French governess whose Blanc Point slowly became the Texas place name people know today.
San Jacinto County · County History
San Jacinto County Was Built on Timber, Then Found Oil
The county was carved out of four neighboring counties in 1870 and named for the battle that ended the Texas Revolution, with timber driving its early economy before oil arrived in the 20th century.
San Jacinto County · Town Story
Shepherd Grew From Railroad Town to Lake Gateway
Shepherd started beside a planned railroad near a former Coushatta village, then Lake Livingston changed its traffic and growth a century later.
San Patricio County · Oil and Gas History
Oil and Gas Have Shaped the County Since the 1930s
San Patricio County shifted from cattle and cotton to petroleum after oil was found near Sinton in 1935, and oil and gas are still part of the local economy today.
San Patricio County · County History
San Patricio County Was Founded by an Irish Catholic Colony
The county takes its name from an 1829 Irish Catholic colony called San Patricio de Hibernia, making it one of the few Texas counties with Irish roots.
San Patricio County · County Seat
Sinton Became the County Seat After the Railroad Arrived
Sinton was founded in the 1880s along a new railroad line and became the county seat in 1894, replacing the original settlement of San Patricio.
San Saba County · Local History
San Saba and Its Pecan Industry
San Saba calls itself the Pecan Capital of the World, a claim rooted in the work of a 19th-century settler who improved native pecan trees.
Schleicher County · Local History
Eldorado Grew on Ranching, Wool, and Oil
Schleicher County was built by ranchers, shaped by the wool and mohair trade, and later transformed by oil money that funded local schools for decades.
Scurry County · Local History
A Jail Traded for a Cow Ended Up at Heritage Village
Snyder's Heritage Village gathers historic and replica buildings from across Scurry County, including a two-room school, a tiny jail, a post office, and a barbershop.
Scurry County · Courthouse Square
A Public Windmill Once Held the Center of Snyder's Courthouse Square
Scurry County's 1886 courthouse square paired local red brick with board walks, a hitching rail, and a windmill where civic and social life gathered.
Scurry County · Railroad History
Four Santa Fe Depots Put Scurry County on a Longer Line
By the end of 1911, Santa Fe passenger-and-freight depots at Dermott, Hermleigh, Pyron, and Snyder connected a one-line county to distant markets.
Scurry County · County History
How Scurry County Got Its Name
Scurry County was carved out in 1876 and named for a Confederate general, and the county seat Snyder grew from a buffalo hunter's trading post.
Scurry County · Local Identity
The White Buffalo Story Runs From County Road 253 to Snyder's Square
J. Wright Mooar killed a rare albino buffalo near his Scurry County camp in 1876; its hide reached the St. Louis World's Fair, and the story later reached Snyder's walking trail.
Scurry County · Education & Community
Western Texas College Serves the Region from Snyder
Western Texas College, based in Snyder, is a two-year community college that is also one of Scurry County's taxing units — meaning its tax rate appears on your property tax bill.
Shackelford County · County History
Albany Has Been Shackelford County's Seat Since 1875
Shackelford County was formed in 1874 and named for a Texas Revolution hero; Albany replaced Fort Griffin as the county seat and has served in that role ever since.
Shackelford County · Historic Site
Fort Griffin Historic Site Sits on a Bluff North of Albany
Fort Griffin was a U.S. Army post established in 1867 that anchored a frontier town and cattle trail crossroads; today the site is managed by the Texas Historical Commission.
Shackelford County · Local Tradition
The Fort Griffin Fandangle Is an Official Texas State Play
Since 1938, Albany has staged an outdoor musical drama about the county's frontier history that the Texas Legislature recognized as one of four official state plays.
Shelby County · Courthouse Square
Center's historic courthouse has a castle look and a blue-norther story
J. J. E. Gibson gave Center an early Romanesque Revival courthouse whose castle-like details outlasted a weather crack and an old design legend.
Shelby County · Timber History
Haslam was drawn on paper as a lumber company town
Will Haslam drew a sawmill, planer, light plant, log ponds, tram roads, shops, hotels, and segregated worker housing into one company plan.
Shelby County · County History
How Center became the county seat of Shelby County
Shelby County was formed in 1836 and named for a Revolutionary War hero, and its county seat moved from Shelbyville to Center in 1866.
Shelby County · Historic Communities
Tenaha keeps the old Tenehaw name in daily use
Tenaha's railroad-era name reaches back to Tenehaw Municipality, Shelby County's earlier civic name.
Shelby County · Railroad Towns
Timpson grew where a main line met a 34-mile lumber railroad
An 1885 main-line stop grew into a sawmill town, then sent a smaller railroad through Ragley and Pine Hill to Henderson.
Sherman County · Local Economy & History
Sherman County's economy: wheat, cattle, and natural gas
Sherman County built its economy on cattle ranching, then wheat farming, then irrigation and feedyards — with natural gas playing a surprising role in local school funding.
Sherman County · Local History
Stratford became the county seat under Texas Ranger guard
Sherman County's government moved from Coldwater to Stratford in 1901 in a contentious midnight transfer — and Texas Rangers had to keep the peace.
Smith County · Civil War History
Camp Ford in Tyler was a major Civil War prisoner of war camp
During the Civil War, Camp Ford in Tyler held as many as 4,725 Union prisoners at its peak, making it the largest Confederate prison camp west of the Mississippi River.
Smith County · House museum
Goodman-LeGrand adds shade, gardens, and house-museum history to Tyler
The Goodman-LeGrand house museum and its gardens, donated to Tyler, fill nearly a city block at 624 N. Broadway with shade trees, azaleas, and roses.
Smith County · Agricultural Heritage
Smith County hired what is considered the first county agricultural agent in the U.S. to supervise a single county, in 1906
In 1906, Smith County brought on what historians have called the first county agricultural agent in the nation to supervise a single county exclusively.
Smith County · County Origins
Smith County was established in 1846 and named for a Texas Revolution general
Smith County was carved out of the old Nacogdoches District in 1846 and named after General James Smith, a hero of the Texas Revolution.