Texas is the second largest state in the U.S. Department of State, with an area of 268,597 square miles or 171, 902,080 acres. According to the Texas Almanac, the Lone Star State stretches 801 miles in a straight line from north to south and 773 miles from east to west. The Lone Star State has some of the best barbecues and the largest farmland and ranches in the United States.
Since the 19th century, it has been home to presidents, movie stars, musicians, popular heroes and famous outlaws. Here are 25 facts from deep inside the heart of Texas. The state capital was almost called Waterloo. When a commission inspected the land in 1838, they named the territory after the famous battle.
But the Congress of the Republic of Texas ended up renaming the city Austin in honor of founding father Stephen F. March 27-19 was the hottest day in the history of Texas. In Amarillo, the temperature was 35 degrees below zero with snow on the ground, while Brownsville peaked at 106 degrees. Forget Mount Rushmore, Texas has its own giant stone head, a 13-ton rock carved in the shape of John Wayne's face.
Unlike the South Dakota presidential monument, the John Wayne Boulder monument in Lubbock, Texas, is located inside the Lubbock Christian University library. The word “Texas” comes from teysha, which means “friends” or “allies” in the language of the natives of East Texas. But the state's best-known ode may come from Hollywood cowboy and Texas native Gene Autry. Other popular long-time Texas barbecue restaurants include Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, which opened in 1949 and is known for its veal breast, and Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse in Elgin, which began as a sausage company in 1949.Earlier this year, a map showing the real size of the state of Texas circulated at one of the outlets on the Reddit map.
In 1942, the singing cowboy appeared in the movie Heart of the Rio Grande, where he sang “Deep In The Heart of Texas”. The film True Stories (1998), set in the fictional Virgil, Texas, and directed by David Byrne of the band Talking Heads, is loosely inspired by the technological empire established by Texas Instruments. There is a lot of Texas between El Paso and Orange, as anyone who has taken a long trip through the Lone Star State would know. Often used as a statement of Texas pride, the expression “Don't mess with Texas” began as an anti-garbage slogan.
Sometimes called “the birthplace of Texas ranching,” the 825,000-acre King Ranch in South Texas covers more land than the entire state of Rhode Island. Glen Campbell wrote an ode to Galveston, George Strait sang about his exes in Texas, and Waylon Jennings had a number one hit on the Billboard with “Luckenbach, Texas” in 1977.Texas is home to the world's largest Honky Tonk (where Merle Haggard once bought the world's largest beverage round), a votive candle, a giant pilgrim's head and, of course, the world's largest Texan. The Six Flags amusement park chain was founded in Arlington in 1961 and is named after the six flags of Texas.
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