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Governors James Stephen Hogg and Thomas M. Campbell hail from the city of Rusk, Texas. James Stephen Hogg was the 20TH governor of Texas and served from 1891-1895. Thomas M. Campbell was the 24TH governor of Texas and served from 1907-1911. The town was established by an act of the Texas Legislature on April 11, 1846. It was named after Thomas Jefferson Rusk, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. … [Read more...] about Texas History – Do You Know What City is the Birthplace of the First and Second Native-Born Texan Governors?

Castroville was established in 1844 by Henri Castro, an empresario of the Republic of Texas, who brought several dozen European families to the area from Alsace and adjoining Baden, to populate his land grant along the Medina River twenty miles west of San Antonio. Although for generations, the first residents remained insular, after a few hard years, the town and surrounding farms flourished. In Castroville’s first century, a visitor would be more likely to hear Alsatian - a soft, … [Read more...] about Texas History – Do You Know What Ethnic Group First Settled in Castroville, Texas?

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen’s Bureau, was a United States federal government agency that aided distressed freedmen (freed slaves) from 1865-1872 during the Reconstruction era of the United States. The Freedmen’s Bureau Bill was initiated by President Abraham Lincoln and was intended to last for one year after the end of the Civil War. The Bureau encouraged former plantation owners to rebuild their plantations, urged African … [Read more...] about Texas History – Do You Know What Federal Government Agency Aided Freed Slaves Following the War Between the States?

Born near Grand Saline, Texas, Wiley Hardeman Post was a famed American aviator and the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Post is also known for his work in high altitude flying. Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits and discovered the jet stream. On August 15, 1935, Post and American humorist Will Rogers were killed when Post’s aircraft crashed on takeoff from a lagoon near Point Barrow in the Territory of Alaska. Post’s Lockheed Vega aircraft, the Winnie Mae, is featured … [Read more...] about Texas History – Do You Know What Texas Pioneering High-Altitude Pilot Was the First Person to Fly Solo Around the World?

The Brownsville Affair, or the Brownsville Raid, was a racial incident in 1906 that arose out of tensions between the black soldiers of the 25TH Infantry and the white citizens in Brownsville, Texas. When a white bartender was killed and a police officer wounded by gunshot, townspeople accused the members of the 25TH Infantry Regiment, a unit of Buffalo Soldiers stationed at nearby Fort Brown. Although commanders said the soldiers had been in their barracks all night, evidence was planted … [Read more...] about Texas History – Do You Know Where the 25th Infantry Riot Occurred?

Spindletop is a salt dome oil field located in the southern portion of Beaumont, Texas. On January 10, 1901, a well at Spindletop struck oil ("came in"). The new oil field soon produced more than 100,000 barrels of oil per day. Gulf Oil, Texaco, now part of Chevron Corporation, and Mobil were formed to develop production at Spindletop. … [Read more...] about Texas History – Do You Know What Three Major Oil Companies Trace Their Roots to the Spindletop Boom?

Marshall, Texas was founded in 1841 as the seat of Harrison County. Marshall quickly became a major city in the state because of its position as a gateway to Texas on several major state coach lines and one of the first railroad lines into Texas. The county had the highest per capita farms and plantations in the south. Local citizens were opposed to the growing wealth and power of the industrial and financial capitalists and centralist tendencies of the Northeast. Consequently, the majority of … [Read more...] about Texas History – Do You Know What Texas Town Was Once the Confederate Capital of the State of Missouri?

James Stephen "Big Jim" Hogg was the 20TH Governor of Texas and the first native Texan to become governor. Prior to becoming governor, Hogg was elected state Attorney General in 1886 on the platform of railroad regulation reform and to reign in abuses by other large corporations. In 1888, Hogg sued the rail companies for attempting to create a monopoly. Hogg won, defeating the powerful rail baron Jay Gould. Hogg tackled the "wildcat" insurance companies, forcing several of them to leave the … [Read more...] about Texas History – Do You Know When Texas Enacted Antitrust Laws?

The Galveston-Bolivar Ferry has been a part of the Texas transportation system since the 19TH century when the skiff, The Tarpon, began operating from Galveston Island. These early operations were commercial ventures and only made the trip when they had paying customers. In 1929, the first regularly scheduled ferry service between Port Bolivar and Galveston Island was established by a privately owned company. By the end of 1929 the company sold its two ferries to Galveston County. After six … [Read more...] about Texas History – Do You Know What Is the Texas Highway Department’s Oldest Ferry?

On March 16, 1996, command pilot Neil Armstrong and San Antonian David Scott were launched into space on the Gemini 8 mission. The flight was originally scheduled to last three days but terminated early due to a malfunctioning thruster. The crew performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space and demonstrated great piloting skill in overcoming the thruster problem and bringing the spacecraft to a safe landing. … [Read more...] about Texas History – Do You Know What San Antonian Served with Neil Armstrong on the First U.S. Space Docking?