Texas

Salute the swagger of a Texas history timeline that features leading ladies, legendary lawmen, and the braintrust that put humanity into orbit. Celebrate the subtle pleasures of a day bracketed by an Austin breakfast taco and a sunset cruise through Galveston history. Our Texas history books don’t shy away from the state’s shameful excesses either—unconscionable tragedies like the 1910 Slocum Massacre demand an accounting. From a promenade down the San Antonio Riverwalk to a furtive exit from the Texas Chicken Ranch, step out with Texas history. [View all Texas books]

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Luling

$24.99

Forgotten Tales of Texas

White Rock Lake Revisited

Austin's Pemberton Heights

Fort Worth's Quality Hill

$24.99

Lewisville

$24.99

Clarksville and Red River County

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Luling

9780738571454

$24.99

One historian described Luling in the 1870s as "the toughest town in Texas." Along with the railroad came notorious gamblers who were ready to take a man's hard-earned money any way they could. But when settlers enforced what laws there were and established permanent homes, churches, and a school, the rougher crowd sought greener pastures. In the southern corner of Caldwell County, Luling had at first an agrarian-based economy, but that changed with the discovery of oil, which boosted the population from a few hundred residents to several thousand. The oil industry and related businesses kept the population steady. Luling soil also proved beneficial to crops such as cotton, but the area's prize crop became watermelons. Today oil and watermelons keep Luling on the map, and the annual Watermelon Thump attracts thousands. At the crossroads of three important highways, businesses flourish, especially barbecue, which is considered by some to be the best in the state.

Forgotten Tales of Texas

9781609492687

$21.99

From El Chupacabra to the Marx Brothers, Clay Coppedge has a talent for digging into Texas's most unusual history. Strange as they may seem, many of these Texas-sized legends are surprisingly true, like Pancho Villa's film contract and the notorious Crash at Crush, a staged train collision and failed publicity stunt that turned tragic outside of Katy. Whether fact or lore, each tale is irrefutably part of a unique and fascinating heritage that invigorates the spirit like a Texas frontier remedy.

Navasota

9780738595023

$24.99

Navasota is named for the nearby Navasota River. The naming of the river is linked, most plausibly, to an encounter on its banks in the 1540s between Indians and a Spanish expedition led initially by the then-deceased Hernando de Soto. Indians believed that spirits of the dead were associated with rivers. Accordingly, though he was interred earlier in the Mississippi River, the Indians saw de Soto's spirit reborn in their river, hence the legendary term "Nativity de Soto," shortened to Navasota. As this book shows, the history of Navasota has revolved around the theme of birth. It stands in the Cradle of Texas, associated endemically with the founding of Spanish Texas and later with the birth of the Republic of Texas. At the crossroads of Texas, Navasotians have pioneered new industries while moderating equilibrium between a genteel society bent on expanding the mind and a ruffian element tamed only at the hands of an icon in American folklore.

Rockdale

9780738585062

$24.99

Rockdale was first established as a railroad town in Milam County in 1874. Milam County was carved from the extensive Robertson's Colony in 1852, and it flourished with immigrants eager to move on after the Civil War severed the nation. For many, Rockdale was an easy choice for a new home because it was the end of the line. The fertile land, pleasant climate, and ample water attracted settlers, many of whom were of German, Czech, and Wendish descent. The presence of large deposits of lignite brought mining onto the scene in the early 1900s. From 1954 until 2009, the Aluminum Company of America operated a large plant that was six miles from Rockdale, which further changed the economy. The settlers were by no means the first humans to inhabit this land.

White Rock Lake Revisited

9781467131179

$24.99

For more than 100 years, White Rock Lake has been the people's playground. The types of lake activities popular here have changed through the decades as Dallas has grown from a small country town to a large metropolitan city. The lake first known for hunting and fishing is now an urban oasis enjoyed by well over two million visitors a year. Images of America: White Rock Lake Revisited focuses on the people and activities of the lake and expands on the previously published Images of America: White Rock Lake.

Lost Fort Worth

9781626192355

$21.99

From the humble beginnings of a frontier army camp, Fort Worth transformed into a city as cattle drives, railroads, oil and national defense drove its economy. During the tremendous growth, the landscape and cultural imprint of the city changed drastically, and much of Cowtown was lost to history. Witness the birth of western swing music and the death of a cloud dancer. See mansions of the well-heeled and saloons of the well-armed. Meet two gunfighters, one flamboyant preacher, one serial killer and one very short subway carrying passengers back in time to discover more of Fort Worth. Author Mike Nichols presents a colorful history tour from the North Side to the South Side's Battle of Buttermilk Junction.

Seagoville

9780738578637

$24.99

Seagoville was founded in 1879 by T. K. Seago, who also donated the land that brought the Texas and New Orleans Railroad. With the arrival of this new railroad, Seagoville became an industrial frontier. The first church was organized in 1872, and the first bank was founded in 1905. By 1911, the city could boast that there were seven citizens who owned automobiles. Although the Great Depression had its impact, there were no bread lines in town because the local cannery provided employment. The movie actor Chill Wills was born here and went on to star with such noted actors as John Wayne and Spencer Tracy. During World War II, the city sent 228 of its 720 citizens to the armed services. Even today, numerous stories circulate about the infamous Bonnie and Clyde spending time in town.

Austin's Pemberton Heights

9780738595894

$24.99

One of the first automobile suburbs in Austin, Pemberton Heights was developed from former plantation land on a limestone bluff overlooking the city. Neighborhood development began in 1927 with a castle created from an old water tower, which originally served as the land office, and encompasses diverse architectural styles, such as Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival, Monterrey Revival, and Art Moderne. Many homes were designed by leading architects of the day. The neighborhood showcases a mixture of straight and curving streets; magnificent large homes; and cozy bungalows on what was once farmland. Historic bridges crossing Shoal Creek connect the suburb to Austin. With its proximity to downtown and the University of Texas, the neighborhood attracted prominent citizens and accomplished professionals such as Sen. Ralph Yarborough, Mayor Roy Butler, Rebekah Baines Johnson, and Amb. Ed Clark.

Comfort

9780738579481

$24.99

Ernst Altgelt and people from what is now Germany founded Comfort in 1854 in the Guadalupe Valley of the Texas Hill Country. When the Civil War began, many of these freethinking people opposed secession. Some attempted to go to Mexico and were surprised by Confederates near the Nueces River. A few Unionists escaped; some were killed, and others were wounded and later killed. In 1865, friends and relatives retrieved their remains, and they now lie under the Treue der Union Monument. The first school was built in 1856, but not until 1892 did Comfort build a church. Charles Apelt created the Armadillo Farm, which made lamps, purses, and baskets from armadillo shells. Today descendants of original settlers live on family ranches and in houses built by their ancestors. Comfort is unincorporated to this day, and it retains a sense of its freethinking independence.

Medina County

9780738579894

$24.99

Medina County was founded in 1848 by settlers from Europe and the eastern United States. At the time, Native Americans still lived on that land, which they called "Comancheria." Full of hope for a better life, settlers tamed an unfamiliar landscape that was filled with prickly pear cactus, rattlesnakes, coyotes, mountain lions, bison, armadillos, pecans, persimmons, and mustang grapes. The first settlements in Medina County were Castroville, Quihi, Vandenburg, and D'Hanis. New Fountain, New D'Hanis, LaCoste, Rio Medina, Hondo, and others were established later. The settlers worked hard growing cotton and grain and raising cattle, and they retained their old-world customs and religious faith in the face of many challenges. With the building of the Medina Dam, farming changed for the better, and new immigrants arrived to help establish schools and communities. Today the proximity to San Antonio allows people to work in the city while maintaining their homes, farms, and ranches in Medina County.

Fort Worth's Quality Hill

9781467132114

$24.99

In the late 19th century, Fort Worth's Quality Hill succeeded Samuels Avenue as the city's prestigious residential neighborhood. Cattle barons, bankers, attorneys, and business entrepreneurs selected this west-side locale to construct exquisite homes that reflected their wealth and prominence in the community. Bounded by Seventh Street on the north, Pennsylvania Avenue on the south, Henderson Street on the east, and the Trinity River on the west, the area had an unequaled civility. Quality Hill set the standard for fine living, elaborate entertaining, and philanthropy. Just a handful of these gracious homes have survived the years. Fort Worth's Quality Hill offers you an opportunity to explore this historic neighborhood in its finest and waning days.

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.

Clarksville and Red River County

9780738579146

$24.99

Red River County and Clarksville are actually older than the state of Texas itself. Once known as the Red River District, the area represented all or part of 39 present-day Texas counties. Some of the area's earliest Anglo settlements could be found along the Red River as early as 1816 and included Pecan Point, the Burkham Settlement, and Jonesboro, followed by the settling of Clarksville in 1833. Many of Texas's earliest pioneers passed through the county, including Sam Houston, who spent his first night in Texas in Jonesboro at James and Isabella Clark's home; and Davy Crockett, who spent time at Whiterock at John Stiles's home before he perished at the Battle of the Alamo. Today Red River County is known as the "Gateway to Texas."

Johnson County

9781467130707

$24.99

In 1854, land that was covered in trees, tall grass, spring-fed creeks, and rivers and was home to abundant wildlife, including deer, buffalo, and turkey, became Johnson County. In the early years, a trickling of brave pioneers developed cattle trails and iron rails, and as the area continued to grow and change, many farms and ranches were replaced with industrial and retail enterprises. In 2013, the Chisholm Trail Parkway, which efficiently connects the western part of the county to the metroplex and the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, was nearing completion.

Vernon

9780738595467

$24.99

Located in the north-central part of Texas, Vernon is the county seat of Wilbarger County. Originally, the area was home to the Kiowa and Comanche Indians. The first white settlers came in April 1878. Two years later, on April 23, 1880, Vernon was settled as Eagle Flat, though that name was changed to Vernon on March 27, 1881, because the postal department said there were too many towns in Texas with the word "eagle" in their name. Once the Fort Worth & Denver Railway extended to Vernon, the population began to boom.

San Augustine County

9780738579375

$24.99

San Augustine has been called the "Eastern Gateway into Texas" for more than three centuries. Many immigrants crossed the Sabine River and followed El Camino Real to the little settlement nestled on each side of this ancient roadway. Alamo-bound David Crockett wrote his last letter to his daughter Margaret from San Augustine on January 9, 1836. Davy's words echoed the favorable impressions expressed by new arrivals to Texas: "I am hailed with hearty welcome to this country . . . The cannon was fired here in San Augustine on my arrival. What I have seen of Texas, it is the garden spot of the world, the best land and the best prospects for health I ever saw, and I do believe it is a fortune to any man to come here." San Augustine County still retains the charm of times past through her well-preserved 19th-century homes and churches. Images of America: San Augustine County profiles these cherished landmarks and others through the vintage photographs of local historical groups, family collections, and private archives.