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History & Culture
Local Notes
History & Culture notes
Hidalgo County · Local landmark
La Lomita Chapel Helps Explain Why Mission Is Called Mission
A Texas Historical Commission marker ties La Lomita Chapel to the name and early story of Mission.
Hidalgo County · Downtown McAllen
McAllen's Old Post Office Anchors a Downtown Heritage Corner
The Texas Historical Commission marker says McAllen's 1935 post office later became a civic and heritage building downtown.
Hidalgo County · Mission
Mission's Name Runs from La Lomita to the Railroad
Mission took its name from La Lomita in 1908, when a railroad stop gave a new town its center four miles north of the old mission.
Hidalgo County · Courthouse history
Old Hidalgo Still Has the County's Courthouse Story in Brick
The Texas Historical Commission marker says the Old Hidalgo County Courthouse served the county before the seat moved to Chapin, later Edinburg.
Hidalgo County · Pharr
Pharr Went from a Sugarcane Townsite to an International Bridge
John C. Kelly named Pharr for a sugarcane partner in 1909; irrigation, rail, and the Pharr-Reynosa bridge changed what moved through town.
Hidalgo County · Settlement History
Spanish Ranchers Settled This Area More Than 275 Years Ago
The lower Rio Grande Valley was settled by Spanish ranching families in 1749 under José de Escandón, making it one of the older continuously settled regions in Texas.
Hidalgo County · Old Hidalgo
The Old Hidalgo Jail Also Carried a Newspaper Chapter
The Texas Historical Commission marker says the Old Hidalgo County Jail served the county until 1908 and later housed The Hidalgo Advance newspaper.
Hidalgo County · Pumphouse
The Old Hidalgo Pumphouse Mixes Border History, Trails, and Birds
The City of Hidalgo runs the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse Museum and World Birding Center with tours, trails, birding, gardens, and nature programs.
Hidalgo County · Economic History
The Railroad and Irrigation Transformed the County After 1904
When the railroad arrived in 1904 and irrigation canals followed, Hidalgo County shifted from open-range ranching to intensive farming, and land values exploded.
Hill County · County Origins
Hill County was formed in 1853 and named for a Republic of Texas official
Hill County was carved from Navarro County in 1853 and named for Dr. George Washington Hill, who served in Sam Houston's cabinet.
Hill County · Agricultural Heritage
Hill County was once a top Texas cotton producer, boosted by a railroad in 1881
Cotton farming and the 1881 arrival of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad shaped Hill County's growth and its immigrant communities.
Hill County · Historic Courthouse
Hillsboro's 1890 courthouse burned in 1993 and was restored with help from Willie Nelson
The Hill County Courthouse in Hillsboro is an 1890 limestone landmark that nearly burned down in 1993, then helped spark Texas' courthouse-restoration push.
Hockley County · Courthouse square
A Parked Cadillac Served as Hockley County's Opening Meeting Room
Before Hockley County had a courthouse, its new commissioners met in a Cadillac on the proposed square and ordered the basics of a county seat.
Hockley County · County History
How Hockley County Went from Open Range to Cotton Country
Hockley County was carved from ranchland in the early 1900s, grew fast on cotton and irrigation, and later added oil to become the rural High Plains community it is today.
Hockley County · Public art
Levelland's Mosaics Turn Local Memory into a Citywide Map
A 1968 mosaic made with schoolchildren grew into a citywide collection about cotton, oil, music, schools, and the communities around Levelland.
Hockley County · Local institution
South Plains College Opened with 76 More Students Than Expected
South Plains College expected 500 students when classes opened in 1958. It enrolled 576, giving a local campaign an unexpectedly large opening day.
Hockley County · Downtown theater
Three Windows over the Wallace Marquee Hold a Family Story
The three windows above the Wallace Theater marquee once belonged to the Blankenship family apartment, putting home directly over the picture show.
Hood County · Historic Landmark
Granbury Saved Its Clock Tower With Coupons and Pocket Change
After a 1968 tornado damaged Granbury's courthouse tower, newspaper coupons and schoolchildren's coins helped turn a repair campaign into a wider preservation movement.
Hood County · County History
Hood County and Granbury Got Their Names as a Pair
In 1866, Texas lawmakers named both Hood County and its new county seat for Confederate generals, putting two names on the local map in one act.
Hood County · Geography
Lake Granbury Redrew Hood County Around an Old Brazos Bend
Lake Granbury began filling in 1969, then brought water supply, shoreline neighborhoods, marinas, and a new weekend map to Hood County.
Hopkins County · Agricultural Heritage
A 1937 milk plant helped Hopkins trade cotton rows for dairy routes
Carnation's Sulphur Springs plant joined better roads and rail service in turning dairy into a defining Hopkins County industry.
Hopkins County · County Seat
Bright Star became Sulphur Springs when the springs became the pitch
The town changed its name in 1871 as local promoters sold visitors on the promise of its mineral springs.
Hopkins County · County History
Hopkins County's first seat faded; its clockless courthouse did not
Tarrant was the first county seat, but a fire and a refused clock gave Sulphur Springs the courthouse people recognize now.
Houston County · Courthouse square
Crockett's highway numbers moved to Loop 304 in 2025
TxDOT placed four through-route designations on Loop 304 in 2025, while their business routes kept the courthouse square in the middle of Crockett's road map.
Houston County · Local History
Why Houston County and Its Seat Are Named What They Are
Houston County was one of the first counties created by the Republic of Texas in 1837, and its seat Crockett was named for the Tennessee frontiersman David Crockett.
Howard County · Historic Structure
A Depression-Era CCC Pavilion Still Stands in Big Spring State Park
Civilian Conservation Corps workers built stone structures in Big Spring State Park in 1934-35 that are still in use today.
Howard County · County History
Big Spring Grew From a Water Hole to a Railroad Town to an Oil Boom City
Big Spring and Howard County went through three waves of growth: a natural spring drew travelers, then a railroad brought settlers, then oil brought a boom.
Howard County · Trail Marker
Comanche Trail Park Marks an Older Route Through the Spring Country
A Texas Historical Commission marker in Comanche Trail Park ties Big Spring to the springs, lakes, and older trail routes that shaped travel here.
Howard County · Historic House
Potton House Puts Big Spring's Railroad Era Into Stone
The Potton-Hayden House at Gregg and Second is a railroad-era Big Spring landmark built from Pecos sandstone, iron, and zinc detail.
Howard County · Courthouse
The 1953 Courthouse Gives Main Street a Modern Face
Howard County's active courthouse at 300 South Main is a 1953 Modern building of limestone and cast aluminum.
Howard County · Air Base Legacy
The Old Air Base Still Shapes Big Spring's College Map
Big Spring's military-airfield story did not end with deactivation; pieces of that land became part of local education and industry.
Hudspeth County · Historic Building
The county courthouse is built from adobe
The Hudspeth County Courthouse in Sierra Blanca, built in 1919, is made of adobe and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Hudspeth County · County Origins
This county was born where two railroads met
Hudspeth County formed in 1917 from eastern El Paso County. The town of Sierra Blanca grew up at the spot where two railroads met in 1881.
Hunt County · Higher Education
A campus fire moved a college to Commerce
East Texas A&M University began in Cooper in 1889 and moved 16 miles to Commerce after an 1894 fire.
Hunt County · Local History
Greenville kept its electric utility in local hands
Greenville bought its own electric system in the late 1800s, and GEUS remains a community-owned utility.
Hunt County · County Origins
Hunt County has eight neighbors and blackland underfoot
The first state legislature created Hunt County in 1846, and eight counties meet it around the map.
Hunt County · Agriculture
Old cotton ground now carries a broader farm mix
Beef cattle and hay now share Hunt County's farm story with horticulture, cotton, wheat, and grain sorghum.
Hunt County · Local History
The first train turned Greenville cotton into world trade
Greenville's first train arrived in 1880, and its cotton compress later set world records for rail shipments.
Hutchinson County · Company Town
A 1938 Map Gave Phillips and Whittenburg Their Own Insets
A state traffic map preserves Phillips and Whittenburg side by side as the two oil communities took one name.
Hutchinson County · Historic Site
Adobe Walls Is Where Trade, Bison, and War Collided
On private ranchland northeast of Stinnett, Adobe Walls links 1840s trade, violence over the bison slaughter, and later Turkey Track ranching.
Hutchinson County · Boomtown
Borger Went From Townsite to Boomtown in Ninety Days
A 240-acre townsite, an oil rush, and relentless promotion pulled tens of thousands of people toward Borger in a matter of months.
Hutchinson County · Industrial Town
Bunavista Grew Around a Wartime Rubber Works
Bunavista grew beside two government-owned wartime plants west of Borger: one made butadiene and the other synthetic rubber.
Hutchinson County · Lake Town
Fritch Grew When Sanford Dam Changed the Map
Railroad tracks gave Fritch its name; Sanford Dam and Lake Meredith gave the small town its sudden growth.
Hutchinson County · Local History
How Oil Shaped Hutchinson County
An oil discovery in the early 1920s turned a quiet ranching county into a booming industrial hub almost overnight — and oil still shapes the local economy today.
Hutchinson County · Old County Seat
Plemons Lost the County Seat When the Railroad Passed It By
A Canadian River settlement became Hutchinson County's seat in 1901, then watched the railroad and county government move to Stinnett.
Irion County · Agriculture & Land
Irion County Once Counted Nearly 203,000 Sheep
The sheep-heavy era has passed, but Irion County's modern farm acreage and sales still lean overwhelmingly toward pasture and livestock.
Irion County · Local History
The Railroad Moved the County Seat to Mertzon
Irion County started with Sherwood as its county seat, but when the railroad bypassed Sherwood and ran through Mertzon, the county seat followed.
Jack County · County History
How Jack County Got Its Name and Grew
Jack County was created in 1856 and named for two brothers who fought in the Texas Revolution, with Jacksboro growing from a frontier settlement into the county seat.
Jackson County · County History
A railroad detour moved Jackson County's seat from Texana to Edna
Texana was the original county seat of Jackson County, but when a railroad bypassed it in 1882, Edna quickly took over and Texana faded away.
Jackson County · Oil & Gas History
Jackson County has been an oil producer since the 1930s
Oil was discovered in Jackson County in 1934 and production has continued for decades, shaping the local economy alongside farming and ranching.
Jasper County · Logging roots
Buna's old tram road tied the pines to the Neches
Buna began around lumber work, a tram road to Ford's Bluff, and rail links that pulled south Jasper County toward Beaumont and Orange.
Jasper County · River history
Evadale was Ford's Bluff before the mill name stuck
Evadale's Neches River bluff moved from ferry crossing to log collection point to paper-mill town.
Jasper County · County history
Jasper County was named for a Revolutionary War hero in 1836
Jasper County was created by the Republic of Texas in 1836 and named for William Jasper, a hero of the American Revolution who died planting the American colors at Savannah in 1779.
Jasper County · Timber town
Kirbyville grew where timber, rails, and Trout Creek met
Kirbyville's name and street pattern trace back to John Henry Kirby's lumber world and the railroad that reached the site in 1895.
Jasper County · Courthouse square
The Jasper courthouse square still carries the old red-brick story
Jasper's working courthouse began as an 1889 red-brick building, after two earlier courthouse chapters had already come and gone on the square.
Jeff Davis County · National Historic Site
Fort Davis National Historic Site preserves a frontier Army post
Fort Davis National Historic Site in the town of Fort Davis preserves one of the best-surviving frontier military posts in the Southwest, known especially for the Buffalo Soldiers who served there.
Jeff Davis County · County History
Jeff Davis County was carved from Presidio County in 1887
Jeff Davis County was created in 1887 from Presidio County. The Southern Pacific Railroad bypassed Fort Davis, which shaped the county's economy for generations.
Jefferson County · Civil War History
A Handful of Men Repelled a Federal Invasion at Sabine Pass
On September 8, 1863, about 47 Confederate soldiers under Lt. Dick Dowling defeated a Union fleet of gunboats and 4,000 troops at the mouth of the Sabine River.
Jefferson County · County History
Jefferson County Is One of Texas's Original Counties
Jefferson County was established in 1836 as one of the original counties of the Republic of Texas. Beaumont replaced an earlier county seat by 1838.
Jefferson County · Historic Site
Sabine Pass Battleground Holds More Than One War Story
The state historic site pairs the 1863 battlefield with a Union casualty memorial and four ammunition magazines from a later coastal defense battery.