Kermit

9780738584546

$24.99

Well known for its oil and gas production, Kermit was originally founded by ranchers needing a supply hub in an isolated area of West Texas. An 1876 campaign by Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie helped rid the area of Comanche Indians. Prompted by the state's policy for free use of its land, ranchers quickly moved in. This population growth resulted in the establishment of Winkler County in 1887. Competition between nearby towns for the title of county seat lasted until 1910, when Kermit's offer of free lots won it the designation. Though the town later experienced a drought, which severely crippled the population, the discovery of oil on ranchland owned by Thomas G. and Ada Hendrick in 1926 helped the town boom. Today, Kermit's economy is sustained by ranching and oil and gas production.

Killeen

9780738596044

$24.99

The story of Killeen is aptly called "a tale of two cities." Killeen was founded on May 15, 1882, when the first Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company (GC&SF) locomotive arrived from east Bell County. The original town contained 360 acres purchased from Susan Spofford for $960. GC&SF honored its assistant general manager, Frank Patrick Killeen, by naming the new town for him, although he probably never visited his namesake. During its first 60 years, Killeen developed into a busy agricultural center specializing in cotton and wool. It remained a town of approximately 1,200 until 1942, when a tank destroyer center was opened nearby and became Killeen's close neighbor--physically, economically, and socially--displacing farms and ranches and converting the town from an agricultural to a military-based economy. That conversion and Killeen's boomtown future were sealed in 1950, when Camp Hood, the tank destroyer center named for Confederate general John Bell Hood, became a permanent military installation and was renamed Fort Hood.

Kingsville

9780738584829

$24.99

Kingsville is located in the northern part of the Wild Horse Desert region of South Texas. The storied history of this Texas town is part of Western lore. The region was originally a patchwork of large Spanish land-grant ranches, and the ranchers needed a way to bring their cattle to market. The legal contract made between King Ranch manager Robert Kleberg and railroad builder Benjamin Yoakum secured the general office, shops, and roundhouse of the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railway with a handshake. Laborers, skilled workers, merchants, and farmers soon flocked to this barren area to build Kingsville and make a home for their families. Kingsville became a railroading community, college town, center of the oil industry, and home to the Naval Air Station at Kingsville. Modern Kingsville is an intellectual center for ranch management, a home to state-of-the-art training for naval aviators, and an ecotourism center for birding and wildlife enthusiasts.

Krum

9780738579917

$24.99

Krum is one of the crown jewels of North Texas. Located north of Fort Worth and just west of Denton, Krum was once famous for an award-winning strain of wheat. The town even established three grain mills to accommodate wheat production. Over a million pounds of grain were shipped in 1900, when Krum was known as the largest wagon grain market in the United States. The town now serves northwest Denton County as a center for agricultural, financial, and emergency services, with its citizens as Krum's major asset. Descendants of many of the original settlers are still here by preference and are proud to tell the world they live in Krum. Why go anywhere else?

Kyle

9781467134910

$24.99

Kyle, Texas, was founded in 1880 when settlers from the nearby established communities of Blanco and Mountain City purchased lots in the 200-acre township deeded to the International-Great Northern Railroad by David E. Moore and Fergus Kyle, who gave his name to the new city. Beneath a live oak tree, which still stands, lots for both businesses and residences that had been laid out by surveyor Martin Groos were sold at auction in October 1880. Within two years, the town had 500 residents, although it would not be incorporated until 1928. Around the time Kyle was founded, Col. R.J. Sledge brought German workers to his Pecan Springs Valley plantation east of Kyle, generating new customers for his mercantile store in town. Kyle has been the home of some famous people, including author Katherine Anne Porter, Boston Red Sox pitcher Tex Hughson, Rhodes Scholar Terrell Sledge, and Dean Edwin J. Kyle, namesake of Kyle Field at Texas A&M University.

La Grange

9780738556369

$24.99

La Grange, voted the capital of the Republic of Texas in 1838, is as colorful and audacious as the state itself. Its citizens were instrumental in winning the republic's freedom and have always been willing to fight for their beliefs. Many defend La Grange as the true capital of Texas, unfairly stripped of its title. The town flourished during the 19th century and witnessed the birth of a rough-and-tumble society, where arguments were commonly settled with fists, knives, and guns. In later years, immigrants flocked to the area and built a strong agricultural economy. The 20th century might have passed quietly into history if not for a Houston television reporter who publicized the demise of one of Texas's best-known brothels, the Chicken Ranch, located just outside of La Grange. The extensive publicity surrounding the closing of the "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" resulted in a musical and movie of the same name, as well as a song by ZZ Top.

La Salle County

9780738579382

$24.99

The Nueces River runs west to east across La Salle County, and at one time it served as the boundary between Texas and Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in 1848, ceded the Nueces Strip to Texas. La Salle County was formed out of some of this land in 1858. Early settlers struggled to survive in the wild terrain amid fears of attacks from outlaws and natives. From the Indian Raid of 1878 and the assassination of a sheriff, to droughts and dust storms, the hardy people of La Salle County persevered. After an election in 1883, Cotulla was selected as the permanent county seat, a courthouse was erected, and churches and schools were built. The lawlessness of the past is gone, but the county's residents share the perseverance of those early pioneers.

Lady Undertakers of Old Texas

9781467154277

$24.99

Author Kathy Benjamin accompanies the pioneering women of the Lone Star State's funeral business.

The intimate task of caring for the dead had long fallen under women's sphere of responsibilities. But after the Civil War, the sudden popularity of embalming offered new financial opportunities to men who set up as undertakers, pushing women out of their traditional role. In Texas, from the 1880s to the 1930s, women slowly regained their place by the bier. Many worked while pregnant or raising children. Most shouldered the additional weight of personal tragedies and persistent sexism. All brought comfort to the bereaved in the isolation of the Texas frontier, kept its cities free of deadly disease and revolutionized an industry that was just coming into its own.

Lake Jackson

9780738584799

$24.99

The city of Lake Jackson is located adjacent to an oxbow lake of the same name. The land was part of the original Stephen F. Austin land grant from Mexico in 1822. Abner Jackson began to develop the land in 1842, and his family and slaves resided there until 1870, when the end of the Civil War ultimately ended the habitation of the plantation. The land was bought to resume the production of sugar in 1900, but the effort was quickly ended by the famous Galveston storm. In 1938, the Dow Chemical Company bought the land in their effort to build a chemical plant on the Gulf Coast. The plant size greatly expanded with the advent of World War II, and beginning in 1943 Alden Dow designed one of the first planned communities to house Dow employees. The city expanded after the war, and the chemical plant grew to the second largest in the world. By 2010, the population of Lake Jackson had grown to 27,000.

Lake Travis's South Shore

9781467132527

$24.99

The Colorado River, running through Austin, Texas, and the area now referred to as Lake Travis, has always been a beautiful place to live. The early settlers found it suitable for farming and ranching--until it rained. The rain soaked up soil, and water upstream often engorged the land and washed out everything in its path. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal created agencies that constructed hydroelectric dams for the Tennessee Valley Authority, and those were used as blueprints for the Lower Colorado River Authority. The ground-breaking for the Mansfield Dam took place on February 19, 1937, and the dam was completed in 1942, providing power and flood control for the area. The dam created Lake Travis and brought about a new recreational industry. Boat docks, lodges, and parks sprang up along the newly created lake, and they are still enjoyed today.

Lake Worth

9780738578620

$24.99

The history of Lake Worth begins in 1909 when two young boys accidentally set a fire that destroyed many buildings in Fort Worth. Fighting the fire nearly drained the city's wells dry, so city leaders reconsidered an earlier suggestion from engineer John Hawley to create a surface reservoir. The enormous hole filled in just three weeks after heavy rains, instead of the predicted three years. Completed in 1914, Lake Worth became the largest reservoir in the Southwest. Fort Worth now had a better water supply, and local beach development brought water recreation to millions and greatly impacted the small community nearby. Through the years, silt and contaminants have infiltrated the lake, and the City of Fort Worth has temporarily stopped the slow process of dredging the lake because of the economy. But the community's collective hope soars with the possibility that the lake and beaches eventually will be restored to their original condition.

Lampasas County

9781467126977

$24.99

Native American tales of the medicinal sulfur springs found in what is now Lampasas County drew settlers and, later, tourists who sought cures for various ailments throughout the 19th century. The region soon became known as the Saratoga of the South, and when the first passenger train arrived in Lampasas in 1882, it opened a new market for the local waters. Entrepreneurial citizens capitalized on the springs, building bathhouses, opera houses, and other amenities. In 1884, the Lampasas County Courthouse was built—the third-oldest Texas courthouse still in use today. Vestiges of Lampasas's heyday are found in Hanna Springs and Hancock Park, which remains a thriving recreational area with a free-flow sulfur pool and an 18-hole golf course. Public murals, a sculpture garden, historic sites, and a proud engaged community draw people to Lampasas County today.

Lampasas County

9781467108935

$23.99 $12.00 Save 50%

Lampasas County's sulfur springs fueled early success in the region, but when the railroad extended past its small towns, prosperity waned. Today, Lampasas enjoys a renaissance as crowds, real estate prices, and high taxes drive people from the big cities into the countryside. These newcomers have taken an interest in the history of the county and have worked alongside natives to restore many historic sites.

Lampasas County

9780738558813

$24.99

About an hour's drive northwest of Austin, Lampasas County is located in the center of the state of Texas, on the northern edge of the Hill Country. Native Americans were the first to discover the area, and they told settlers about the natural sulfur springs there. In the 1850s, Moses Hughes and his ailing wife, Hannah, traveled to the region to drink and bathe in the medicinal waters of the springs. The sulfur cured Hannah, and word traveled quickly. In 1856, Lampasas County was created. The Santa Fe Railroad completed its line from Galveston to the county seat in 1882, and with hotels and bathhouses booming, Lampasas became known as the "Saratoga of the South." In towns such as Lometa and Kempner, ranchers raised goats and sheep for mohair and wool and cattle for beef. Though fires and floods struck the county on several occasions, Lampasas soldiered on and continues to thrive today.

Lancaster

9780738578767

$24.99

In 1841, the Republic of Texas was on the brink of bankruptcy, and it needed to attract new immigrants in order to survive. With this important goal in mind, in 1844 the Texas congress authorized the republic's president, Sam Houston, to contract with individuals to colonize the state. In September of that same year, one group headed by Capt. Roderick Rawlins from Illinois came to Texas and settled in what would become the town of Lancaster. Farmers grew grains and cotton, and Lancaster became a trade center with a lively town square. A commercial club organized in order to coordinate advertising for local businesses, and it also held trade days that later became town fairs. Local residents worked hard all week and enjoyed horse races, baseball, "forty-two" parties, music performances, and other entertainment on the weekends. By the late 1800s, Lancaster was connected to the rest of the state by the railroads, but the town still retained its independent, small-town Texas character.

Laughlin Air Force Base

9781467107099

$23.99 $12.00 Save 50%

Today, Laughlin Air Force Base is one of the busiest pilot-producing bases in the world. Named after Jack Thomas Laughlin, the base traces its history back to 1942. During World War II, the base was called Laughlin Field and trained bomber pilots in the B-26 Marauder. The base closed in 1945, after the war, but reopened again as an Air Force base in 1952 to train fighter pilots for the Korean War. It then took on a Cold War mission from 1957 to 1963. During this time, the base was home to the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, which flew the U-2 spy plane. The 4080th played a key role in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. From 1961 onward, however, Laughlin has served primarily as an undergraduate pilot training base, helping hundreds of brave men and women, every year, earn their wings as military aviators.

Lee County, Texas

9780738502960

$24.99

Lee County illustrates the region's history through vintage photographs, many of which are previously unpublished. This truly multi-cultural, central Texas county is home to a variety of ethnic communities, including the Wends of Serbin and the Czechs of Dime Box, as well as the more diverse settlements of British and German immigrants and former slaves throughout the county. This pictorial retrospective of Lee County begins before the county was formed and continues to about 1940. Narratives taken from local citizens' letters, diaries, and memoirs provide an informative commentary, and individual portraits personalize the accounts. The major foci are the larger towns of Lexington in the northeast and Giddings in the southwest, and the diagonal of the Old San Antonio Road, although shots of the rural areas and towns give a fascinating glimpse into the everyday lives of residents.

Legendary Locals of Arlington

9781467100588

$24.99

The people of Arlington have always had a can-do spirit. There's Carrie Rogers, the society matron who became marshal; Tillie Burgin, who changed the face of social services in Arlington; and Tom Vandergriff, the boy mayor who stayed on the job for 26 years. When educational opportunities were deemed inadequate, Edward E. Rankin and other leading citizens founded and supported a school that grew into the University of Texas at Arlington. Before there was the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, Jim Hayes opened the eyes of Arlington leaders to the difficulties of navigating the University of Texas at Arlington and the city in a wheelchair. Never willing to be overshadowed by Dallas or Fort Worth, their larger neighbors to the east and west, Arlington residents embraced industry and progress, and their enterprising spirit attracted the notice of the nation. Today, the city boasts major businesses and attractions--General Motors, Six Flags, the Texas Rangers, and the Dallas Cowboys--and continues to grow thanks to the aspirations of its people.

Legendary Locals of Coppell

9781467102216

$24.99

Coppell has produced a wealth of personalities that could have leapt from the pages of a novel. The town's early days brought John and Sarah Stringfellow, who helped found the town's oldest church, and Josiah and John Record, a father-and-son duo who were victims of lynching. The coming of the Cottonbelt Railroad created the mystery of town namesake George Coppell. The town was home to farmers like domino-loving Buren Ledbetter and sharecropper W.A. Ottinger. It had its own "Floyd the Barber" (Floyd Harwell), as well as Jo Jackson, the librarian known to most as the "Bird Lady of Coppell." The town has produced a wealth of heroes like Carroll Kirkland, who was killed in World War II, and Jacob Schick, a decorated veteran of the Iraq War. It is also a town that has turned tragedy into triumph through stories like Todd and Tara Storch, who transformed the pain of their daughter Taylor's death into the life-giving charity Taylor's Gift. Together their stories tell the story of Coppell, a place that at its heart will always be a small town.

Legendary Locals of El Paso

9781467101875

$24.99

From a small settlement along the Rio Grande to a major metropolitan area at the crossroads of three states and two nations, El Paso has grown immensely. Known as the "Sun City," the region has always attracted individuals and families from around the world who were looking to establish roots and make their mark. In the early days, pioneers such as Zach White, Anson Mills, and Joseph Magoffin helped lay a solid foundation on which the city was built. Gunfighters like John Wesley Hardin walked the streets of El Paso, while lawmen like Dallas Stoudenmire did their best to keep them off. Lining the streets of El Paso were, and still are, beautiful edifices designed by famed architect Henry Trost. El Paso's unique location, history, and culture have helped inspire many artists, writers, and musicians, such as Jim Ward, Cormac McCarthy, and Tom Lea. Take a moment and learn about some of El Paso's legendary locals.

Legendary Locals of Fort Worth

9781467101349

$24.99

Fort Worth is "the City of Cowboys and Culture"--and where the West begins. Its citizens highlight the Texas can-do spirit and the determination and compassion to make a difference, to be legendary. When Buckley (B.B.) Paddock persuaded the railroad to lay track west of Dallas, a city was born and so was opportunity. Cowboys like T.J. Ryon rode into town with their cattle. J. Frank Norris preached against the vices in Hell's Half Acre while Jennie Schueber tried to rally support for a free library. Feisty entrepreneurs like Ninnie Baird and John B. Laneri baked bread and sold pasta noodles. "Cowtown" also boasts such notables as Edna Gladney, who helped countless orphans find a home; the Clark brothers, who brought Texas Christian University home; and Claude R. Platte, who bravely served as a Tuskegee airman. These fine folks are just a sampling of Fort Worth's fascinating--and sometimes infamous--characters.

Legendary Locals of Grand Prairie

9781467102179

$24.99

Grand Prairie is a city on the edge. Citizens have been innovators with a love for family and community. Alexander Dechmann traded land to insure a railroad depot; early settlers started schools for their families; and the police department hired one of the first women. Leaders at nonprofits such as Brighter Tomorrows not only helped the local community, but also helped develop services in surrounding communities. Business owners and volunteers have strong family traditions of giving back to Grand Prairie, and civil servants have loyalties for extended years of service, such as Ruthe Jackson and her family, who provided support for both businesses and the community. From the early settlers to today's city, Grand Prairie is built upon loyalty.

Legendary Locals of Lake Worth

9781467101585

$24.99

During the early 1900s, a large reservoir built to provide water for Fort Worth, Texas, also opened up opportunities for businesses to develop. Casino Beach, Casino Ballroom, and a large bathhouse became popular spots for thousands. A nearby village, with increasing population, soon had a small school, churches, and other establishments. With nearby Jacksboro Highway running from downtown Fort Worth past the beach area, gambling increased, as did gangster activity. After a long while, with much intervention, these unlawful situations became history. Legendary Locals of Lake Worth spotlights the founders of the small village and features individuals who impacted the area--many for the better, others for the worst. Some may never have received proper recognition until this book's acknowledgment of them.

Legendary Locals of Rockwall

9781467101899

$24.99

Since its founding in 1854, Rockwall has been home to dedicated public servants, pioneer personalities, hometown heroes, successful business owners, devoted educators, and hardworking farmers. Containing more than 100 profiles of Rockwall's interesting and influential citizens, Legendary Locals of Rockwall includes the stories of Confederate veteran John Summerfield Griffith, who rode on horseback to Austin to gain the original charter for Rockwall County; long-tenured office holders such as Lannie Stimpson, who served 53 years in office, and Derwood Wimpee, who served 35 years; a long list of educators, including Maurine Cain, Dorothy Smith Pullen, Ouida Springer, and Doris Cullins, who influenced generations of Rockwall students; and business professionals such as newspaper publishers P.J. and Jane Bounds, local developer and philanthropist Raymond Cameron, and Texas's first formally trained female dentist, Dr. Jessie Castle LaMoreaux. In addition, Rockwall has long honored its agricultural heritage by naming roads after farming families who influenced the region. The names Bourn, Rochell, Cornelius, Clem, and Smirl, among others, will be familiar to those who travel the roads of Rockwall County.

Legendary Locals of the Big Bend and Davis Mountains

9781467100540

$24.99

"Home of the Last Frontier" is how the local radio station aptly describes the Big Bend and Davis Mountains region of West Texas, the sparsely populated area of desert and mountain close to the Mexican border. After 1848, the first settlers started to move in. They came to make a living, and a few made a fortune. Mysterious cattle baron Milton Faver ran 10,000 cattle in the 1870s. Others came for their health, like J.O. Langford, his wife, and young daughters who, seeking a dry climate, came to homestead on the Rio Grande. Today's newcomers are equally pioneering in their own way. Donald Judd was the catalyst that changed Marfa from a moribund cow town to an internationally recognized art center. Edie Elfring, an immigrant from a small island in the Baltic Sea, has picked up trash and tended Alpine's public gardens--unasked and unpaid--for years. They were drawn to what their predecessors found: a boundless landscape peopled by a few hardy, independent souls.

Legendary Locals of the Big Bend and Davis Mountains

Legends & Lore of the Texas Capitol

9781467137584

$24.99

From its beginning as one of the most ambitious construction projects west of the Mississippi, the imposing red granite Lone Star statehouse loomed large in Texas lore. The iconic landmark rests on a foundation of election rigging, an unsolved murder, land swaps and pre-dedication blackmail. It bore witness to the first meeting between LBJ and Lady Bird, as well as a bizarre resolution honoring the Boston Strangler. Mike Cox digs up a quarry's worth of the capitol's untold history, cataloguing everything from its ghost stories to its public art and collectible tourist kitsch.

Leon Valley

9780738585130

$24.99

Surrounded by the city of San Antonio and bisected by Texas State Highway 16, Leon Valley is known as the City of the Lions. In the early 1800s, European and Mexican immigrants homesteaded and raised their families here. Joseph Huebner, an Austrian immigrant, built a limestone house that became a stagecoach stop, providing a change of stock and overnight accommodations for weary travelers. Stories about strange noises and hauntings told by former homestead residents were thought to be related to the circumstances of his death. In the mid-1930s, a building boom attracted many to the quiet countryside. By the 1940s, dairy farming was the main occupation. From its beginnings, Leon Valley residents have chosen to preserve and celebrate its history, and concern for the well being of its citizens has remained a priority. This small community offers the advantages of a big city but retains its small-town atmosphere.

Lewisville

9780738579931

$24.99

Originally known as Holford's Prairie, Lewisville's name is not the only thing that has changed about this town in its long history. Settlers sponsored by the Peters Colony Company founded the small community in the 1840s. In the ensuing years, the settlement, renamed to Lewisville by Basdeal W. Lewis in 1856, consistently grew and prospered until its incorporation in 1925. Cotton farming and ginning, the arrival of the Dallas and Wichita Railroad in 1881, the expansion of Lake Dallas into Lake Lewisville in 1954, and the opening of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in 1974 ensured that Lewisville became an important commercial center in booming North Texas. Throughout its phenomenal growth, however, Lewisville still retained the charm and bonds of its farm-centered past. Today Lewisville boasts the largest population and school district in Denton County and serves as a suburb for the bustling Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Lighthouses of Texas

9781467130912

$24.99

Not long after winning their independence from Mexico in 1836, Texans began clamoring for lighthouses. Hundreds of miles of barrier islands, shifting sandbars, and shallow bays made the Texas coast treacherous at a time when few overland routes provided access to the new republic. Beginning in 1852, twenty-eight lighthouses were built along the Texas coastline, on land and over water. Lighthouse service was often a family affair, with husbands, wives, and children working together as keepers and assistants. For nearly 70 years, construction continued as coastal erosion, hurricanes, and wars regularly damaged or destroyed those lighthouses already built. These "sentinels of the sea" lessened but did not eliminate the chance of shipwreck, so lifesaving stations, manned by able seamen with unsinkable surfboats, were established as well. As Texas's lighthouses were gradually automated throughout the 20th century, many were sold to private owners or abandoned. Today, several have been restored, and two--at Aransas Pass and Port Isabel--still function as aids to navigation.

Limestone County

9780738596396

$24.99

Though Limestone County was established on April 11, 1846, the first Anglo settlers arrived in 1833, while Texas was still part of Mexico. They built Fort Parker, the site of an 1836 Indian attack. Of the five captives taken, Cynthia Ann Parker grew up as a Comanche, married a Comanche chief, and became the mother of Quanah Parker, the last great Comanche chief. Springfield was the first permanent settlement and first county seat. The Houston and Texas Central Railroad began construction of a line through the county in 1869 and established the towns of Kosse, Thornton, Groesbeck, and Mexia. Following the Civil War, cotton became the major agricultural endeavor. During the 1920s, the Mexia Oil Boom brought prosperity to the county. Sadly, many of the small farming communities disappeared after World War II, when cattle ranching replaced farming. Today, major attractions include Lake Limestone, Old Fort Parker, Fort Parker State Park, the Confederate Reunion Grounds, and the Prairie Hill Drag Strip.

Live Oak County

9780738595337

$24.99

In 1856, Live Oak County was chartered by frontiersmen under the spreading limbs of a great live oak tree near the Nueces River. As far back as 12,000 years, hunter-gatherer Paleo-Indians subsisted on berries, roots, and megafauna like mastodons in this timeless frontier. Cabeza de Vaca, prisoner of Coahuiltecans in 1535, provided the first European description of the area. The Spanish then explored and unsuccessfully attempted to colonize the region, and when Spanish troops withdrew from Texas in 1813, the sole Spanish colonizers in the area, the Ramirez brothers, abandoned their ranch and left with them. Shiploads of Irish immigrants next arrived between 1828 and 1834, and following the Civil War, herds of wild Longhorns driven north turned drovers like George West into wealthy cattle barons. The early-1900s arrival of the railroad created new towns, causing others to die. Today's Live Oak County citizens draw on its indomitable pioneering spirit to meet new 21st-century challenges.

Local Baby Austin

9781467198479

$11.99

Bursting with delightful colors and bright illustrations, Local Baby: Austin engages babies' attention and encourages families to explore what makes their city so great. Swim in the Barton Springs Pool, watch out for bats under the Congress Avenue Bridge, stroll through the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, and catch a UT Longhorn football game. Explore your city with this joyfully grabbable and wonderfully local board book that is sure to bring generations together.

Lockhart

9780738585192

$24.99

When people think of Lockhart today, they think of barbecue. However, Lockhart's history and culture are much more. As Spanish land grants were awarded to Anglos to settle this virtually uninhabited territory, they came to what is now Lockhart because of the many springs, live oaks, rolling hills, and good soil. First were Native Americans, like the friendly Tonkawa tribe, and then in 1840, a few Anglo families settled on Plum Creek, six miles from today's town center. In August 1840, the legendary Battle of Plum Creek ended the Great Comanche Raid, clearing the way for further settlement. Farming and ranching led to a melting pot of ethnic entrepreneurs who opened related businesses around the square of the Caldwell County seat. Cattle and cotton became kings and, even today, remain leading agribusinesses. Dubbed the "Barbecue Capital of Texas" by the Texas Legislature, Lockhart can boast that over 1.2 million people visit annually to eat barbecue.

LOL Jokes Texas

9781467198424

$9.99

Bursting with laugh-out-loud jokes and fun facts, LOL Jokes: Texas combines the best of humor and history for young readers! Inspired by all the wonderful sights, sounds, and . . . smells of the Lone Star State, this local joke book delivers kid-friendly punchlines that will have readers laughing 'til they cry! Alongside hilarious jokes and puns are fascinating facts, goofy tidbits of local history, and engaging graphics that will keep readers chuckling and sharing with friends. LOL Jokes: Texas is sure to deliver hours of knee-slapping entertainment. What do you call a Texas cow without any legs? Ground beef! Fun Factoid: Texas big! The State Fair of Texas boast's North America's highest Ferris wheel. It's called The Texas Star!