History

The Most Surprising Facts About Texas: Do You Know Them All?

By  | 
Tony Maples Photography

 

A place as big as the Lone Star State is home to more than a few surprising facts. How well do you know your Texas facts? Do any of these surprising facts cause you to do a double-take? Be sure to let us know which ones!

When a coral snake bit one Texan in the mid-1990s, the man showed his Lone Star State grit by biting the snake’s head off and tying the headless body into a crude tourniquet.

The oldest law enforcement agency in North America is the Texas Rangers, of which Chuck Norris and John Wayne are both honorary members.

While WWII was raging, the BBC banned the song “Deep In the Heart of Texas” during work hours for essentially being too catchy. It was out of fear that the famous chorus would cause factory workers to set their tools down and clap their hands.

Did you know Texas has its own power grid? The Texas power grid is separate from those that power the Eastern and Western United States.

The Most Surprising Facts About Texas: Do You Know Them All?

Photo: Pixabay

Texas boasts over 70,000 miles of highway, and every year, the state uses 1.6 million gallons of white and yellow paint to paint stripes on the highways.

The highest temperature on record in the Lone Star State was 120 degrees Fahrenheit on August 12, 1936. The lowest recorded temperature was -23 degrees Fahrenheit at Seminole on February 8, 1933.

Did you know that the far West Texas city of El Paso is closer to Needles, California, than Dallas?

G.T.T. means “Gone to Texas,” and this shorthand was all the rage in the 1800s when someone setting out for Texas would leave behind the message for their family and friends.

The Most Surprising Facts About Texas: Do You Know Them All?

Photo: Pixabay

Thanks to the classic song, so many Luckenbach, Texas, road signs have been stolen that the state stopped manufacturing them.

The city of Slaughter, Texas, has never recorded a single murder.

Texas was its own nation from 1836 to 1845, and it was the only state to become part of the U.S. by treaty, not annexation. It means Texas can fly its state flag at the same height as the national flag.

The Texas state capitol building has more square footage than any other state capitol, and the Texas capitol dome is seven feet taller than the U.S. capitol’s dome.

The Most Surprising Facts About Texas: Do You Know Them All?

Photo: Facebook/San Jacinto Museum

The San Jacinto Monument is taller than the Washington Monument. In fact, it’s the tallest freestanding monument on the planet.

Charles Whitman, the Texas Bell Tower Sniper, went on a killing rampage in 1966 at the University of Texas. Several Texans took up their own rifles and returned fire at the deranged man, keeping him pinned down in the bell tower long enough for police to take him out.

The King Ranch is larger than the entire state of Rhode Island.

The largest urban bat colony on the continent is found in Austin, under the Congress Avenue Bridge over Lady Bird Lake. Locals and tourists love to watch the bats take flight when darkness falls.

Which of these surprising facts is your favorite? Let us know!