Local Notes
The small details that make a Texas place make sense.
Find the history, water, streets, institutions, local habits, useful offices, and real-world cautions behind a town or county. The library leans neighborly and positive without hiding the things a resident ought to know.
3,460 sourced local notes · 1,272 stories and local color · 1,889 practical · 299 good to know
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A good place to begin
Three stories with Texas under their fingernails
Corsicana · Navarro County
Corsicana's brick streets are part of the downtown story
Downtown Corsicana has an official Main Street program, old brick streets, and a restored railroad freight office that keeps the center of town readable on foot.
Polly · Bandera County
Polly's Chapel Keeps a Tejano Frontier Story in Stone
Polly's Chapel ties a rural Bandera County place to Policarpo Rodriguez, a Texas Ranger, Army scout, guide, and 1858 settler.
Bailey County
Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge Draws Tens of Thousands of Sandhill Cranes Each Winter
Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1935 and described by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the oldest national wildlife refuge in Texas, sits 20 miles south of Muleshoe and hosts large concentrations of sandhill cranes during winter.
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Useful across Texas
Statewide basics worth keeping close
- Property tax Texas does not have a state property tax The bill is local, but the rules are state-shaped.
- Homestead The school homestead exemption is now $140,000 For a qualifying residence homestead, the school-tax taxable value starts much lower than market value.
- Appeals The protest deadline is usually May 15 or 30 days after notice The deadline is easy to miss because it is tied to the appraisal notice.
- Appraisal Texas appraisal value is generally a Jan. 1 snapshot The value date is not the day you get the notice.
- Local districts MUDs and PIDs can change the monthly feel of a house A newer subdivision can carry extra district taxes or assessments.
- Closing The owner title policy is negotiable, but local custom is real Texas contracts and local practice often decide who pays.