Texas Trivia & Tidbits - Page 17

Looking for Texas trivia? Try our list Texas little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

The state park between Rusk (pop. 5,085) and Palestine (pop. 17,598) is long and narrow—but it makes for a great ride. The Texas State Railroad State Park encompasses a 25-mile strip between the two cities that carries a rail line built in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Visitors board historic cars pulled by steam or diesel engines at one end of the park, ride to the other end in about 90 minutes, and have an hour for lunch before the return trip.

first appeared: 2/9/2003

A 40,000-square-foot showroom makes Cowtown Boots in El Paso the world’s largest boot factory outlet store. The company manufactures it boots next door.

first appeared: 2/2/2003

Seawolf Park in Galveston is home to a World War II submarine, the USS Cavalla; a destroyer-escort ship, the USS Stewart; an army tank; and a fighter plane.

first appeared: 2/2/2003

When the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders took the field at Texas Stadium in 1972, the look of professional football changed forever. While cheerleaders had been used in professional games in the past, the Dallas cheerleaders were the first to be presented as entertainment—combining simple cheers with choreographed jazz dance routines and glitzy costumes. The cheerleaders were the idea of General Manager Tex Schramm, who had an extensive background in television.

first appeared: 1/26/2003

Mirabeau Lamar once camped along the Colorado River near a town called Waterloo. He was so impressed with the site that after he became the second president of the Republic of Texas in 1838, he recommended it become the capital of the new Republic. The Republic’s Congress approved of the choice and the area was selected as the capital, which was named Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin.

first appeared: 1/19/2003

The city now called Laredo is the oldest independent settlement in Texas. Colonists founded the town in 1755 as San Agustin de Laredo—the first settlement in Texas that was not founded by missionaries or members of the Mexican military.

first appeared: 1/19/2003

The 300 families who settled in southeastern Texas in Stephen Austin’s first colony are sometimes referred to as the Old Three Hundred. Most were cotton farmers from southern states.

first appeared: 1/12/2003

Audie Leon Murphy, born near Kingston (pop. 140) in 1924, was the most decorated soldier of World War II. He won the Medal of Honor and 33 other awards, many of them for valor. Murphy, who was later a successful movie actor, a lyric writer for country and western songs, an author, and a poet, died in 1971 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

first appeared: 1/12/2003

The river running through San Antonio was once so prone to flooding that city officials in the 1920s considered covering it with concrete and turning it into a storm sewer. But those who considered the San Antonio River a vital part of the city won support for a flood control system and turning the river into a pedestrian park. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Works Progress Administration lined the river’s banks with sidewalks, creating the bustling shopping and dining area known today as the River Walk.

first appeared: 1/5/2003

Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the popular Star Trek television series, was born in El Paso but spent most of his life in California. He was a police officer and pilot before becoming a writer. The Star Trek series survives in re-runs and generated four more television series and a number of movies.

first appeared: 12/29/2002

The Galveston Bay Foundation educates people about how to protect the bay, replants lost marsh grasses, and sponsors beach cleanups.

first appeared: 12/29/2002

Louis Freeman, a Dallas native, became the first African-American chief pilot for a major airline when he was named chief pilot of Southwest Airlines’ base in Chicago in 1992. Freeman was responsible for overseeing all flight operations there.

first appeared: 12/22/2002

The United States and Mexico disagree over who created the first margarita. Some say bartenders in Juarez and Tijuana, Mexico, first concocted the tequila-laden drink in the late 1930s or early 1940s. But one story credits the drink to San Antonio resident Margarita Sames, who is said to have created the cocktail during a Christmas party in 1948. Tequila is distilled from a tropical plant called agave.

first appeared: 12/15/2002

The mountains rising from the surrounding desert in Guadalupe Mountains National Park near Van Horn (pop. 2,435) are actually part of the world’s largest ancient limestone fossil reef. The mountains include Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas.

first appeared: 12/8/2002

President Lyndon B. Johnson’s birthday, Aug. 27, is a state holiday in his native Texas. Johnson, who was born in 1908 not far from Johnson City, was the nation’s 36th president. His birthday was made a state holiday in 1973.

first appeared: 12/1/2002

The pine trees of Bastrop State Park are called the “Lost Pines” because the loblolly pines in the 3,500-acre park near Bastrop (pop. 5,340) are the only loblolly pines for 100 miles.

first appeared: 12/1/2002

Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth, a former barn converted to a country music club in 1981, claims the title of world’s largest honky-tonk. The 127,000-square-foot club features its own rodeo arena and can hold more than 6,000 people at a time.

first appeared: 11/24/2002

When the Republic of Texas existed from 1836 to 1845, France recognized the republic by building an embassy of sorts in Austin. The French Legation, commissioned in 1839, is a museum today.

first appeared: 11/17/2002

Nature provides Austin residents with a rather large swimming hole. The Barton Springs Pool, covering three acres, is fed by natural springs and maintains a constant temperature of 68 degrees.

first appeared: 11/17/2002

The late Gen. Douglas MacArthur never lived in Texas, but Brownwood (pop. 18,813) has a school named for him. The Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom, the honors program for Howard Payne University, was created in 1965 by Guy Newman, who considered MacArthur a hero of the 20th century.

first appeared: 11/10/2002

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