Texas Trivia & Tidbits - Page 8

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

Athens (pop. 11,297) is one of several locations that claims the invention of the hamburger. Fletcher Davis, who owned a café on the town's courthouse square, is reported to have created the hamburger in the 1880s, with the new "sandwich" becoming so popular that a group of local people raised money to send Davis to the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.

first appeared: 5/14/2006

Sand dunes on Mustang Island average 15 to 20 feet in height but can reach 35 feet. The dunes serve as a shield on the coastal barrier island, helping to protect the coastline from high winds. Vegetation such as sea oats, beach panic grass and morning glory anchor the dunes in place, collecting enough sand within three years to create a 15-foot dune.

first appeared: 4/23/2006

A life-size sculpture of "Gentleman" Jim Reeves stands in the one-acre memorial park where the singer is buried near his hometown of Carthage (pop. 6,664). Born into a family of nine children in nearby Galloway in 1923, the country-pop crooner became popular in the 1950s for his velvet voice and songs such as "Mexican Joe" and "He’ll Have to Go." Reeves died in a plane crash in 1964.

first appeared: 4/9/2006

"Singing cowboy" Tex Ritter was born near Carthage, in 1905. Today, the community is home to the Tex Ritter Museum, housed within the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. Ritter was well known for performing the Oscar-winning theme song to the 1952 movie High Noon, but he also appeared on Broadway and radio, and in many movies.

first appeared: 4/9/2006

Last fall, 23 cyclists rode 2,400 miles from Calgary, Canada, to Austin in a seven-day, 24-hour-a-day relay, raising more than $400,000 for cancer research. In Austin, the cyclists joined 6,500 other riders for the Lance Armstrong Foundation Ride for the Roses event. Founded in 1997 by the American cycling champion, the foundation inspires and empowers people with cancer to "live strong."

first appeared: 3/26/2006

In November, the town council of Clark (pop. 125) voted to rename the community DISH after the DISH Network satellite television system. The town’s 55 homes will receive 10 years of free satellite television, and local officials hope the community benefits from a DISH Network advertising campaign. The network is owned by EchoStar Communications Corp., based in Englewood, Colo. (pop. 31,727).

first appeared: 3/12/2006

A rare whooping crane spent the winter with a sandhill crane flock near Hargill, northeast of Edinburg (pop. 48,465). The 2-year-old bird flew a little off course from his 200-member whooping crane flock, which migrates from Canada to spend winters at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge near Corpus Christi. Biologists expect the young crane to return to Canada this spring.

first appeared: 3/12/2006

"Judge" Roy Bean first built a bar in Langtry, northwest of Del Rio (pop. 33,867), in the early 1880s, about the same time that local officials appointed him justice of the peace. He called his saloon the Jersey Lilly, reportedly in honor of singer Lillie Langtry, and also used it as his courtroom, often dispensing outrageous rulings. The building was rebuilt in the 1890s after a fire.

first appeared: 2/26/2006

Holographs and multimedia displays allow visitors to the 14,000-square-foot Frontier Texas facility in Abilene to see and hear the state’s history from 1780 to 1880—including stampeding buffalo, a card game shootout, a prairie thunderstorm and a wolf attack. Visitors are guided by eight "spirit guides" who explain what life was like for settlers and soldiers.

first appeared: 2/12/2006

Craig Woolheater co-founded the Dallas-based Texas Bigfoot Research Center in 1999, five years after seeing a tall, hairy, two-legged creature walking along a back road in Louisiana while he was driving between New Orleans and Dallas. The center aims to validate the existence of "Bigfoot" through research and by following up on reported sightings.

first appeared: 2/12/2006

Groundwater seeping into the concrete shell of an Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missile silo near Abilene has created a 130-foot-deep pool of clear, 60-degree water, which has been turned into a scuba diving site known as Dive Valhalla. Linda and Mark Hannifin, who run a scuba diving business in Midland, own the silo, which was both built and decommissioned in the 1960s.

first appeared: 1/29/2006

Born in Temple (pop. 54,514) on Sept. 24, 1946, football defensive tackle "Mean" Joe Greene was a first-round draft pick by the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969. He led the team’s "Steel Curtain" defense until his retirement in 1981, helping the Steelers win Super Bowls in 1975, 1976, 1979 and 1980.

first appeared: 1/29/2006

The Fort Worth neighborhood known as the "Garden of Eden" was named the city’s first African-American historic and cultural district last year. Descendants of pioneer Major Cheney, who inherited more than 300 acres of land there in the 1800s, still live in the area. Over the years, the family donated land for a church and for the area’s first school for black children.

first appeared: 1/15/2006

Hereford (pop. 14,597) was known as Blue Water during the 1890s. When residents discovered there was another Blue Water in the state, the town was named after the Hereford cattle brought to the area by ranchers L. R. Bradley and G. R. "Rat" Jowell. Soon after, Hereford became the seat of Deaf Smith County.

first appeared: 1/15/2006

MISS TEXAS 2006—Morgan Matlock made her television singing debut at age 4 on TNN’s Nashville Now. Today, vocalizing has taken on a very different meaning for the Lamesa (pop. 9,952) native. As a National Task Force leader for the Words Can Heal Organization, Matlock promotes the elimination of "verbal violence" to build mutual respect, honor and integrity in homes, schools, communities and the workplace. While she still sings, her platform, Putting an End to Verbal Abuse, has been her focus in more than 400 appearances statewide.

first appeared: 1/8/2006

First Monday Trade Days began in Canton (pop. 3,292) more than 150 years ago, reportedly because the circuit judge visited the community on the first Monday of each month. People gathered to buy and sell goods, with wild horse trading usually part of the activity. Today, Trade Days take place for several days before the first Monday of each month.

first appeared: 1/1/2006

A massive grouper named Gordon, weighing more than 200 pounds, is a main attraction at Sea Center Texas in Lake Jackson (pop. 26,386). Opened in 1996 by Dow Chemical Co., the Coastal Conservation Association, and Texas Parks and Wildlife, the $13-million fish hatchery produces 20 million fingerlings annually and showcases coastal salt marsh, jetty and offshore Gulf of Mexico habitats in its exhibits.

first appeared: 12/18/2005

With more than 30,000 members, Lakewood Church in Houston has one of the nation’s largest church congregations. The nondenominational Christian church’s first meeting was in 1959 in a converted feed store. Earlier this year, church meetings were moved into the city’s Compaq Center, once home to the Houston Rockets basketball team. After $75 million in renovations, 16,000 of the church’s members now can attend services at one time.

first appeared: 12/4/2005

Surfside Beach (pop. 763)—now known for its water surfing—was the site of the June 26, 1832, Battle of Velasco, a prelude to the Texas Revolution. The Mexican fort commander there tried to prevent Texans, under Henry Smith and John Austin, from transporting cannons from Brazoria down the Brazos River for use at nearby Anahuac. After several days of fighting, the Texans prevailed.

first appeared: 12/4/2005

On Oct. 23, 1970, a small plane crashed into the Virgen de San Juan del Valle Shrine in San Juan (pop. 26,229). Although the pilot was killed, the people inside the church, also known as Our Lady of San Juan, at the time of the incident survived—as did the statue of the Virgin Mary for whom the church was named. The shrine was rebuilt and dedicated in 1980.

first appeared: 11/20/2005

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