Nobody asked for them, but here are some little known Texas facts. I know ya'll just can't wait to read 'em! Beaumont to El Paso: 742 miles Beaumont to Chicago: 770 miles El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas World's first rodeo was in Pecos... July 4, 1883. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full time coach for Rice University in Houston. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America's only remaining flock of whooping cranes. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978. The worst natural disaster in U.S. history was in 1900 caused by a hurricane in which over 8000 lives were lost on Galveston Island. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20, 1969, was "Houston." King Ranch is larger than Rhode Island Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US. rainfall record of 43" in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July 1979. Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY, instead of by annexation. (This allows the Texas flag to fly at the same height as the US flag.) A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period after Dr in Dr Pepper. Texas has had six capital cities: 1. Washington-on-the-Brazos 2. Harrisburg 3. Galveston 4. Velasco 5. West Columbia 6. Austin The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. (by 7 feet). The name Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas. The State animal is the Armadillo. (An interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four babies! They have one egg which splits into four and they either have four males or four females. Well...I thought it was interesting anyway!) The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS - TEXAS STYLE People here in Texas have trouble with all those shalls and shall nots in the 10 Commandments. Folks here just aren't used to talking in those terms. So, some folks out in west Texas got together and translated the "King James" into "King Ranch" language: Ten Commandments, cowboy style. Cowboy's Ten Commandments posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Fairlie, Texas. (1) Just one God. (2) Honor yer Ma & Pa. (3) No telling tales or gossipin'. (4) Git yourself to Sunday meeting. (5) Put nothin' before God. (6) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal. (7) No killin'. (8) Watch yer mouth. (9) Don't take what ain't yers. (10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff Now that's kinda plain an' simple don't ya think? Y'all have a good Day. You hear?
i love reading this stuff. it's a great feeling knowing Texas is better than every other state in the country.
i lived in Alvin in 1979 (on Westfield Dr.) and our house got about 2 feet of water in it. my friends and i were stoked that our neighborhood was now a huge lake. my friends and i were not stoked about the gammaglobulin (sp?) shot to prevent hepatitis the following week 'cause we were swimmin' down the Rio Westfield. word.
My wife and I were talking about this the other day. Wouldn't you hate to be from some state that nobody cares about....like Delaware? You never meet somebody that says they are from Delaware, and you never hear anything about the state. I mean what is the purpose of it even being a state? I take a lot of pride in the fact that I'm from Texas, and love telling people all about it that aren't from here. Hell, my job is trying to transfer me to Oklahoma and one of the reasons I don't want to go is because I don't want to leave Texas. Well...actually that has more to do with not wanting to go to Oklahoma....I'd be happy in just about any other state.
Well being the first state in the "United States" carries some clout. I mean, I think it's more notable than "we had the greatest natural disaster in the history of the US - killing thousands of people". WAHOOOO! Or "Jalapeno Jelly was invented here!" YIPEEEE! lol.
A lot of people dont understand just how big we are. I get people that are like you've never beeen to "insert random texas place" and I have to explain to him just how big texas is. It's not like some states where everything is within an afternoon drive.
One extra bit of knowledge to add is that Austin is the southernmost state capital in the continental US. I actually heard this from a blackjack dealer in the Aladdin.
Sometimes I envy smaller states with cities close by like being able to drive a couple hours from NYC and be in Philly or Boston or Washington or whatever. But, I love Texas. Always have and always will.
i love texas too but i hate having to drive great distances to go anywhere, even within houston itself. i've been living in nyc so long that i can't imagine living anywhere without mass transit. but i still love to visit texas and as has been mentioned ad nauseum on this bbs but not in this thread, the food is to die for.
Texas, Our Texas! all hail the mighty State! Texas, Our Texas! so wonderful so great! Boldest and grandest, withstanding ev'ry test O Empire wide and glorious, you stand supremely blest. (Blest?) Now where would anybody get the idea that Texans are conceited? (Even if we can't spell)
Baton Rouge and Tallahassee both seem further south, but if you go to Google Maps, you can see that Austin is just a little bit further south than Baton Rouge. Not sure about Tallahassee though. Very close. Beaumont is about 320 miles further from Chicago than that list as well. I wish I could make it from here to see my parents in less than 1,000 miles.
I just googled this and it said to El Paso it is 834 miles and to Chicago it is 1052 miles, respectively. Florida and Wisonsin both have flocks of whooping cranes that are non-captive
The French and the people of Monaco love Texas. It's pretty weird actually. But Texas BBQ overseas sucks ass. Texas BBQ mostly anywhere other than Texas sucks ass. I wish those places could take "Texas" out of their BBQ, cause it's wrong what they are doing.
I've always wondered this... In middle school here, you learn about Texas History... do people in Ohio learn about Ohio history?
What I love about the area from DC up to Boston is that you can jump on a train and get there if you don't want to drive. And the cost is GREAT. My sister lives in North-Central Jersey, Somerset County, about an hour from NYC. Roundtrip train from the station in her town to Penn Station (Madison Square Garden) in NYC is twelve freaking dollars!
