I just read that Nolan Ryan --- shown here as a New York Met in 1968 --- is 77 years old. How can this be? How can it be that this golden-armed boy of summer is now elderly? Where did the time go? Sigh ... I'm feeling wistful this morning.

Three Texas towns with the same name: 1) Sweetwater (English; Nolan County) 2) Agua Dulce (Spanish; Nueces County) 3) Mobeetie (Native American; Wheeler County) Shown here: The Grogan Hotel in Sweetwater. It is undated, but the hotel was constructed in 1905 so presumably right

Dangit! I missed the 86th anniversary of the opening of the Rainbow Bridge between Orange and Port Arthur! The bridge opened on Sept. 8, 1938 when Governor James Allred dedicated it. The celebration included speeches from dignitaries from both Texas and Louisiana, a bathing

Martin Siblerud's barn after the April 13, 1921 tornado that killed 13 people in Melissa, Texas. The tornado tore the roof off of the brick school building, but the children inside were not seriously injured. However, all churches in the town, three cotton gins, every business

Portrait of a dapper man in Flatonia, Texas circa 1895. The population of Flatonia in 1890 was 1304. Remarkably, in the 2020 census, it was 1308. I've never heard of the photographer, M. Caldwell, before, but it seems like every small town in Texas could generate enough income

Many Texans know that 7-11 started in Dallas. A smaller subset of Texans know that the year 7-11 was founded was 1927. An even smaller subset of Texans knows both of those things and that the original name of 7-11 was "Tote'm." But what percentage of Texans knows that, as of

A scene in Houston's fabulous Hermann Park. It is undated but roughly 1960. It looks as if perhaps there was a gathering and folks are just leaving. Splendid colors. My guess is that it was taken with Ektachrome slide film.

youtu.be/ygTsN_sr4k8?si… Top 10 things I learned from listening to Ray Wylie Hubbard songs: 1) The days in which I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations are good days 2) Some get spiritual cause they see the light, some cause they feel the heat 3) Our fears are like dragons

A real cowboy and his palomino horse in Spur, Texas. Another outstanding photo by Russell Lee, 1939.

Q: Is this the greatest commercial of all time? A: Yes. Yes it is. youtube.com/watch?v=8do9Y1…

The Texas Quote of the Day is a glorious one: "In any group of nineteenth century cow boys, more were bearded than clean-shaven. Their costumes were much alike, though with individual variations. But all their garments were "coarse and substantial, few in number and often of the

The Arcane Texas Fact of the Day: 155 years ago today, on Sept. 10, 1869, former slave Hope Thompson and her husband Isaac purchased a piece of property on Elm Street in what is now downtown Dallas. Hope, a washerwoman, borrowed the purchase price of fifty dollars from banker

Scene on South Padre Island, 1989. I was there that year. I tell you what, I could recount some stories from those days but this is a "PG" page.

The BONUS Texas Quote of the Day comes in the form of the text of a broken tombstone that my friend John Nova Lomax (RIP) found in the Sabine Pass Cemetery. Note the incredible detail (filagree?) in the stonework. The inscription is so sad. It reads: To the Memory of The

Red barn and orange tractor near Cele, Texas. One of my own photos, taken in 2009 on a cold winter day.

Check out these two photos of The Hangar, a diner in Grand Prairie on what was then Highway 80 between Dallas and Fort Worth, as photographed by Arthur Rothstein in 1942. The first one shows the entire photo. Pretty awesome, right? But then check out the details in the second

Beautiful Fort Stockton, 1884.