Texas reference desk
100 Essential Facts About Texas
A practical reference to the history, geography, culture, industry and civic structure that explain why Texas feels different. Every fact links to the authoritative or institutional source used to support it; current-law and current-ranking claims remain subject to the controlling official source.
26 facts
Republic, Revolution & History
Independence, settlement, war, energy booms and events that changed the state.
- 001
Six flags over Texas
Six national governments have exercised sovereignty over Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States and the United States.
- 002
Independent republic
Texas existed as the Republic of Texas from 1836 until annexation by the United States in 1845.
- 003
The Alamo siege
The siege of the Alamo began on February 23, 1836, and ended with the Mexican assault on March 6.
- 004
San Jacinto
The decisive Battle of San Jacinto was fought on April 21, 1836, and secured Texian independence.
- 005
Sam Houston
Sam Houston commanded the Texian army at San Jacinto and later served as president of the Republic of Texas and governor of the state.
- 006
Washington-on-the-Brazos
The Texas Declaration of Independence was adopted at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836.
- 007
Austin becomes the capital
The Republic selected the site that became Austin as its capital in 1839.
- 008
The Old Three Hundred
The Old Three Hundred were the families and partnerships who received land in Stephen F. Austin's first empresario colony.
- 009
Come and Take It
The phrase is associated with the 1835 Battle of Gonzales and the small cannon at the center of the confrontation.
- 010
Juneteenth began in Galveston
On June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger announced enforcement of emancipation in Texas at Galveston.
- 011
The Archive War
In 1842 Austin residents resisted an effort to move Republic of Texas archives away from the capital.
- 012
Lorenzo de Zavala
Lorenzo de Zavala signed the Texas Declaration of Independence and served as the Republic's first vice president.
- 013
Anson Jones
Anson Jones was the final president of the Republic of Texas before annexation.
- 014
Mirabeau B. Lamar and education
Republic president Mirabeau B. Lamar supported reserving public land for education, helping shape later Texas school-land policy.
- 015
Cynthia Ann and Quanah Parker
Cynthia Ann Parker was captured as a child by Comanches and became the mother of Quanah Parker, one of the most important Comanche leaders of the late nineteenth century.
- 016
Spindletop
The 1901 Spindletop gusher near Beaumont transformed the Texas petroleum industry and accelerated the growth of Gulf Coast refining.
- 017
Galveston hurricane of 1900
The 1900 Galveston hurricane is generally regarded as the deadliest natural disaster in United States history.
- 018
Galveston raised itself
After the 1900 hurricane, Galveston built a seawall and raised large portions of the city's grade as part of a major storm-protection project.
- 019
New London school explosion
The 1937 New London school explosion led to major changes in natural-gas safety practices, including odorization requirements.
- 020
Texas Rangers roots
Stephen F. Austin employed groups of men called rangers in the 1820s to protect settlements, part of the institutional ancestry of the Texas Rangers.
- 021
Battle of Medina
The 1813 Battle of Medina, fought south of San Antonio, was one of the bloodiest conflicts ever fought on Texas soil.
- 022
Fredonian Rebellion
The 1826 Fredonian Rebellion in East Texas was an early challenge to Mexican authority by Anglo-American settlers.
- 023
Law of April 6, 1830
Mexico's Law of April 6, 1830 restricted immigration from the United States and became a major source of tension in Mexican Texas.
- 024
Travis's letter
William B. Travis's February 24, 1836 appeal from the Alamo is remembered for the closing phrase “Victory or Death.”
- 025
Goliad
Hundreds of captured Texian soldiers were executed at Goliad in March 1836 on orders from the Mexican government.
- 026
Palmito Ranch
The Battle of Palmito Ranch near Brownsville in May 1865 is generally described as the last land battle of the Civil War.
25 facts
Geography & Land
Counties, mountains, aquifers, plains, deserts, rivers and coast.
- 027
Second-largest state
Texas is the second-largest U.S. state by total area, behind Alaska.
- 028
254 counties
Texas has 254 counties, more than any other state.
- 029
Brewster County
Brewster County is the largest Texas county by land area.
- 030
Rockwall County
Rockwall County is the smallest Texas county by land area.
- 031
Guadalupe Peak
Guadalupe Peak is the highest natural point in Texas at 8,751 feet above sea level.
- 032
Gulf Coast low point
Texas reaches sea level along the Gulf of Mexico, the state's lowest elevation.
- 033
Palo Duro Canyon
Palo Duro Canyon cuts through the High Plains near Amarillo and Canyon and is one of the largest canyon systems in the United States.
- 034
Caddo Lake
Caddo Lake is a naturally formed lake and wetland complex on the Texas-Louisiana border, famous for bald cypress and Spanish moss.
- 035
Llano Estacado
The Llano Estacado is a vast high plateau covering much of the Texas Panhandle and South Plains.
- 036
Balcones Escarpment
The Balcones Escarpment marks a major transition between the Hill Country and lower prairies through Central Texas.
- 037
Enchanted Rock
Enchanted Rock is a massive pink-granite dome in the Hill Country north of Fredericksburg.
- 038
Big Bend and the Chisos
The Chisos Mountains rise entirely within Big Bend National Park.
- 039
Texas time zones
Most of Texas observes Central Time, while El Paso and Hudspeth counties observe Mountain Time.
- 040
Geographic center
The geographic center of Texas lies near Brady in McCulloch County.
- 041
Edwards Aquifer
The Edwards Aquifer is one of Texas's most important groundwater systems and supplies major Central Texas communities and springs.
- 042
Barton Springs
Barton Springs in Austin is fed by the Edwards Aquifer and forms one of the state's best-known spring-fed swimming areas.
- 043
Jacob's Well
Jacob's Well near Wimberley is a major artesian spring connected to an extensive underwater cave system.
- 044
Permian Basin
The Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico is one of the world's most important oil-and-gas producing regions.
- 045
Trans-Pecos
The Trans-Pecos is the part of Texas west of the Pecos River and includes most of the state's true mountain ranges.
- 046
Blackland Prairie
The Blackland Prairie is a band of dark, fertile soils running through North and Central Texas.
- 047
Red River border
The Red River forms much of the boundary between Texas and Oklahoma.
- 048
Sabine River border
The Sabine River forms much of the boundary between Texas and Louisiana.
- 049
Franklin Mountains
The Franklin Mountains rise through El Paso, giving the city one of the most dramatic mountain settings of any large Texas city.
- 050
Big Thicket
Big Thicket National Preserve protects a biologically diverse mix of southeastern forests, wetlands and prairies in East Texas.
- 051
Longhorn Cavern
Longhorn Cavern in Burnet County was shaped largely by flowing water and later developed for visitors by Civilian Conservation Corps crews.
24 facts
Culture, Icons & Symbols
Official symbols, food, music, landmarks and Texas traditions.
- 052
State motto
The official Texas state motto is “Friendship.”
- 053
State bird
The northern mockingbird is the official state bird of Texas.
- 054
State flower
Bluebonnets are the official state flower of Texas; several Lupinus species are recognized under the designation.
- 055
State tree
The pecan is the official state tree of Texas.
- 056
Texas longhorn
The Texas longhorn is the official state large mammal.
- 057
Armadillo
The nine-banded armadillo is the official state small mammal.
- 058
Mexican free-tailed bat
The Mexican free-tailed bat is the official state flying mammal.
- 059
Monarch butterfly
The monarch is the official state insect of Texas.
- 060
Chili
Chili was designated the official state dish of Texas in 1977.
- 061
Texas horned lizard
The Texas horned lizard is the official state reptile.
- 062
Cowboy boot
The cowboy boot is the official state footwear of Texas.
- 063
Texas flag colors
Texas law describes blue as loyalty, white as purity and red as bravery in the Lone Star flag.
- 064
Acoustic guitar
The guitar is the official state musical instrument of Texas.
- 065
Jalapeño and chiltepin
Texas recognizes the jalapeño as the state pepper and the chiltepin as the state native pepper.
- 066
Bandera
Bandera markets itself as the Cowboy Capital of the World, reflecting the ranching and trail-driving history of the Hill Country.
- 067
State Fair of Texas
The State Fair of Texas is held at Fair Park in Dallas and is closely identified with Big Tex.
- 068
Frozen margarita machine
Dallas restaurateur Mariano Martinez developed the first successful frozen-margarita machine in 1971 using modified soft-serve equipment.
- 069
Cadillac Ranch
Cadillac Ranch west of Amarillo uses ten Cadillacs buried nose-first as a constantly repainted public-art landmark.
- 070
Western swing
Bob Wills helped popularize Western swing, a Texas-rooted blend of string-band, jazz, blues and dance-hall music.
- 071
Astrodome
Houston's Astrodome opened in 1965 as the first fully enclosed, air-conditioned major sports stadium.
- 072
AstroTurf
Synthetic playing turf became famous through the Astrodome after maintaining natural grass indoors proved impractical.
- 073
Dr Pepper in Waco
Dr Pepper was created in Waco in the 1880s and the city now preserves that history at the Dr Pepper Museum.
- 074
Austin moonlight towers
Austin preserves a surviving collection of historic moonlight towers that once illuminated neighborhoods from great height.
- 075
Texas German
German immigration to the Hill Country produced a distinctive Texas German language tradition that survives in family and community memory.
15 facts
Economy, Space & Industry
Technology, aerospace, agriculture, manufacturing and homegrown companies.
- 076
Texas Instruments and the integrated circuit
Texas Instruments engineer Jack Kilby demonstrated an early working integrated circuit in Dallas in 1958.
- 077
Johnson Space Center
NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston is the home of Mission Control and a central base for U.S. human spaceflight operations.
- 078
Cotton
Cotton has shaped Texas agriculture for generations, with the High Plains developing into one of the state's defining cotton-growing regions.
- 079
Cattle
Cattle ranching has shaped Texas agriculture, land use and cultural identity for centuries.
- 080
Dell in Central Texas
Michael Dell founded the company that became Dell Technologies while he was a University of Texas student; its headquarters are now in Round Rock.
- 081
Whole Foods in Austin
Whole Foods Market grew from Austin natural-food stores and became one of the city's best-known retail success stories.
- 082
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines was created in Texas and is headquartered in Dallas.
- 083
American Airlines
American Airlines is headquartered in Fort Worth beside the Dallas-Fort Worth aviation hub.
- 084
Texas Medical Center
The Texas Medical Center in Houston is one of the world's largest concentrations of medical institutions.
- 085
Toyota in San Antonio
Toyota operates a major vehicle-assembly plant in San Antonio.
- 086
Peterbilt in Denton
Peterbilt assembles heavy-duty trucks in Denton.
- 087
F-35 production in Fort Worth
Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth plant is the principal final-assembly site for the F-35 Lightning II.
- 088
Ruby Red grapefruit
The Ruby Red grapefruit was discovered in the Rio Grande Valley and became a defining Texas citrus variety.
- 089
7-Eleven roots
The business that became 7-Eleven began in Dallas as an ice-company retail operation.
- 090
Texas beer in Shiner
Spoetzl Brewery has brewed beer in Shiner since 1909, making the town name a statewide brand.
10 facts
Government & Civics
The constitutional and institutional structure that makes Texas government distinctive.
- 091
Two highest courts
Texas divides final state appellate jurisdiction between the Supreme Court of Texas for civil matters and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for criminal matters.
- 092
Biennial regular sessions
The Texas Legislature meets in regular session in odd-numbered years for a maximum of 140 days.
- 093
Plural executive
Texas voters independently elect several statewide executive officers, including the attorney general, comptroller and land commissioner.
- 094
1876 constitution
Texas operates under the Constitution of 1876, a lengthy document amended many times by voters.
- 095
Special sessions
Only the governor may call the Texas Legislature into special session, and each special session may last no more than 30 days.
- 096
Permanent School Fund
The Permanent School Fund is a constitutionally rooted endowment that supports public education in Texas.
- 097
Permanent University Fund
The Permanent University Fund uses public-land assets and mineral revenue to support the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems.
- 098
Community property
Texas is a community-property state, meaning property acquired during marriage is generally treated under community-property rules subject to statutory exceptions.
- 099
County-heavy government
Texas's 254 counties are important units for courts, elections, public records, roads and local administration.
- 100
Texas Capitol
The Texas State Capitol in Austin is clad in distinctive pink granite and is taller than the U.S. Capitol dome at its highest exterior point.