Destinations

Things You May not Know about Texas

Texas info graphic
  • You could say that Texas is the original “Law and Order” state since it is home to the oldest law enforcement agency in the U.S., the Texas Rangers. And according to the state law books it  is still a hanging offense in Texas to steal cattle or to put graffiti on someone else’s cow. Texans are serious about their beef.
  • Texas is larger than many nations of the world, including every country in Europe.
  • You could say that Texas is a little batty since more bat species can be found there than in any other state.
  • Texas is the only state in the US to have entered by treaty rather than by annexation since it was an independent nation from 1836 to 1845.
  • The first U.S. suspension bridge was built in Waco, TX in 1840 and it is still being used.
  • On average, 140 tornadoes per year hit Texas.
  • Aside from being the largest city in Texas, Houston is also the 4th largest city in the United States.
  • Texas was an independent republic from 1836–1846, thus its nickname “The Lone Star State,” but the current legal status is as a state of the United States of America.
  • Texas has its own power grid and produces its own electricity.
  • Camels were imported into Texas twice in the 1850s by the U.S. War Department which could explain why it is still illegal to let a camel run loose on the beaches of Galveston.
  • In 1969, Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong called Houston, Texas, from the moon. The first word spoken on the moon in 1969 was “Houston.”
  • The name ‘Texas’ came from the Caddo Indian word ‘tayshas’ meaning “friends” or “allies”. The Spanish pronounced it as ‘tejas’ and the English settlers pronounced it as Texas.

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