Beaumont to El Paso: 742 miles Beaumont to Chicago: 770 miles
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.
BrazoriaCounty 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 GalvestonIsland.
The first word spoken from the moon, July 20,
1969, was "Houston."
El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas.
Laredo is the world's largest inland port.
Tyler Municipal Rose Garden is the world' s largest rose garden with over 38,000 bushes with 500 varieties on 22 acres.
King Ranch is larger than Rhode Island.
Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. 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.
CaddoLake 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 CapitolBuilding in WashingtonD.C. (by 7 feet).
The name Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends. Tejas is not Mexican for Texas.
The State animal is the Armadillo. *
The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston.
*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!
AMERICAN BY BIRTH. TEXAN BY THE GRACE OF GOD!
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 CrossTrailsChurch 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
Last edited on Wed Jul 7th, 2004 03:40 pm by manninej
Interesting! I've got a question about the live oak. I seem to remember that a few years ago, some knucklehead tried to kill it by pouring some kind of poison around the roots. I know it did some damage, but has it recovered? Am I thinking of the right tree? I think it may have been called the "Peace Oak."
____________________ If you can't read this, you're illiterate.
I just read your profile, I'm a H.S. teacher but I can empathize with you, in the specialized area that you teach. Most people don't have a clue when it comes to what a day on the job of a teacher is like(especially yours). Well you get all that time off or they state, it can't be all that hard. You're a special person for what you do. May the lord be with you always, especially at work. In my case I'm thankful for a cold beer at the end of my school day.
JT
Last edited on Sun Apr 10th, 2005 08:35 pm by JTex
I don't know where the tree is. My daughter-in-law & my son-in-law are both from Texas. I'm almost positive that's where I heard the story. I'll talk to them soon & ask them.
____________________ If you can't read this, you're illiterate.
