Twenty Texas Facts

The great state of Texas is interesting and its people have always liked to brag. Here are some interesting facts about the great state.

1. Beaumont to El Paso: 742 miles - Beaumont to Chicago: 770 miles
2. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas.
3. World's first rodeo was in Pecos, July 4, 1883.
4. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America that was built over water.
5. The Heisman Trophy is named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach for Rice University in Houston.
6. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America.
7. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America 's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.
8. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.
9. The first word spoken from the Moon, July 20, 1969, was "Houston."
10. King Ranch in South Texas is larger than the state of Rhode Island.
11. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US rainfall record of 43 inches in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July, 1979.
12. Texas is the only state to enter the US by treaty, known as Constitution of 1845 by Republic of Texas to enter the union, instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas flag to fly at the same height as the US flag, and allowed to divide into 4 States.
13. A Texas Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1,500 years old.
14. Caddo Lake, a 25,400 acres lake and wetland located on the border between Texas and Louisiana, in northern Harrison County and southern Marion County in Texas and western Caddo Parish in Louisiana is the only natural lake in the State.
15. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. (There is no period after the Dr in Dr Pepper)
16. Texas has had six capital cities: Washington-on-the-Brazos, Harrisburg, Galveston, Velasco, West Columbia, Austin.
17. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. that is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. (by 7 feet).
18. The name Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas.
19. The State animal is the Armadillo. Armadillos always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females.
20. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston.