Portal:Texas

Texas
Texas
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Texas (/ˈtɛksəs/ ^ⓘ TEK-səss, locally also /ˈtɛksɪz/ TEK-siz; Spanish: Texas or Tejas, pronounced [ˈtexas]) is the most populous state in the South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south and southwest. Texas has a coastline on the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast. Covering 268,596 square miles (695,660 km²), and with over 31 million residents as of 2024, it is the second-largest state by both area and population. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State for its former status as an independent republic.

Spain was the first European country to claim and control Texas. Following a short-lived colony controlled by France, Mexico controlled the land until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming the Republic of Texas. In 1845, Texas joined the United States of America as the 28th state. The state's annexation set off a chain of events that led to the Mexican–American War in 1846. Following victory by the United States, Texas remained a slave state until the American Civil War, when it declared its secession from the Union in early 1861 before officially joining the Confederate States of America on March 2. After the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation.

Historically, five major industries shaped the Texas economy prior to World War II: cattle, bison, cotton, timber, and oil. Before and after the Civil War, the cattle industry—which Texas came to dominate—was a major economic driver and created the traditional image of the Texas cowboy. In the later 19th century, cotton and lumber grew to be major industries as the cattle industry became less lucrative. Ultimately, the discovery of major petroleum deposits (Spindletop in particular) initiated an economic boom that became the driving force behind the economy for much of the 20th century. Texas developed a diversified economy and high tech industry during the mid-20th century. As of 2022^[update], it has the most Fortune 500 company headquarters (53) in the United States. With a growing base of industry, the state leads in many industries, including tourism, agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace, and biomedical sciences. Texas has led the U.S. in state export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. (Full article...)

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The first page of William Barret Travis's letter, To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World

To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World, commonly referred to as the Victory or Death letter, is an open letter written on February 24, 1836, by William B. Travis, commander of the Texian forces at the Battle of the Alamo, to settlers in Mexican Texas. The letter is renowned as a "declaration of defiance" and a "masterpiece of American patriotism", and forms part of the history education of Texas schoolchildren.

On February 23, the Alamo Mission in San Antonio, Texas had been besieged by Mexican forces led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna. Fearing that his small group of men could not withstand an assault, Travis wrote this letter seeking reinforcements and supplies from supporters. The letter closes with Travis's vow of "Victory or Death!", an emotion which has been both praised and derided by historians. (Full article...)

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Brady in 1906

William Paul Brady (February 12, 1876 – February 27, 1943) was an American lawyer. From 1909 to around 1914, he served as the first district attorney for Texas' 70th judicial district, and from 1917 to 1919 he was the judge for the newly created El Paso County Court at Law. Brady prosecuted several high-profile murder cases as a district attorney, including of Agnes Orner, and in a death-penalty case that has since been termed a "legal lynching" of a Mexican boy charged with killing a white woman.

Brady was born to a pioneering Austin family and grew up there. An older brother, John W. Brady, also became a Texas lawyer and judge; a niece, Caroline Brady, would go on to become a philologist. Will Brady spent three years after graduation as a county school teacher, then ran for county superintendent. He won and ultimately served two terms, from 1900 to 1904. Brady thereafter obtained a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Texas and moved to Pecos, where after several years in private practice he was appointed district attorney by Texas Governor Thomas Mitchell Campbell. Brady moved to El Paso in 1915 and resumed private practice, but was soon named judge, this time by Governor James E. Ferguson. Brady resigned in 1919 and moved to California to pursue interests in oil; he spent the remainder of his career as an oil attorney, and then with the National Farm Loan Association. (Full article...)

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State symbols

Flower	Bluebonnet
Motto	Friendship
Nickname	The Lone Star State
Tree	Pecan
Dog	Blue Lacy
Bird	Mockingbird
Fish	Guadalupe bass
Flying Mammal	Mexican free-tailed bat
Reptile	Texas Horned Lizard

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Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (aerial photograph).

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A plaza near Galatyn Park station in 2019

Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas.

It is home to the University of Texas at Dallas and the Telecom Corridor, with a high concentration of telecommunications companies. More than 5,000 businesses have operations within Richardson's 28 square miles (73 km²), including many of the world's largest telecommunications and networking companies, such as AT&T, Verizon, Cisco Systems, Samsung, ZTE, MetroPCS, Texas Instruments, Qorvo, and Fujitsu. Richardson's largest employment base is provided by the insurance industry, with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas's headquarters, a regional hub for the insurance company GEICO, regional offices for United Healthcare, and one of State Farm Insurance's three national regional hubs located in the community. (Full article...)

List of cities
Houston Dallas Marshall, Texas Austin, Texas San Antonio Amarillo, Texas Arlington, Texas Beaumont, Texas Corpus Christi, Texas El Paso, Texas Fort Worth, Texas Midland, Texas Waco, Texas Tyler, Texas Lubbock, Texas Irving, Texas Sugar Land, Texas San Angelo, Texas Brownsville, Texas Grand Prairie, Texas Abilene, Texas Wichita Falls, Texas McAllen, Texas Denton, Texas

General images

The following are images from various Texas-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The Republic of Texas. The present-day outlines of the U.S. states (white lines) are superimposed on the boundaries of 1836–1845. (from History of Texas)
Image 2The French flag of the Bourbons (from History of Texas)
Image 3The U.S. and Texas flags at the Texas State Capitol. (from History of Texas)
Image 4The Praetorian Building in Dallas, completed 1909, was the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi and the tallest in Texas. (from History of Texas)
Image 5Captain Charles A. May's squadron of the 2d Dragoons slashes through the Mexican Army lines. Resaca de la Palma, Texas, May 1846 (from History of Texas)
Image 6The Spanish flag of Burgundy. (from History of Texas)
Image 7Mission Concepcion is one of the San Antonio missions which is part of a National Historic Landmark. (from History of Texas)
Image 8A factory worker in Fort Worth, Texas, 1942 (from History of Texas)
Image 91913 cotton harvest in East Texas (from History of Texas)
Image 10Spanish Texas in 1794 (from History of Texas)
Image 11Mexican Texas in 1833 (from History of Texas)
Image 12Austin (from List of Texas metropolitan areas)
Image 13Stephen F. Austin, known as the "Father of Texas." (from History of Texas)
Image 14Big Tex, the mascot of the State Fair of Texas since 1952 (from Culture of Texas)
Image 15Boom periods of the four major industries that built the early Texas economy. (from History of Texas)
Image 16The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad --the "Katy"--was the first railroad to enter Texas from the north (from History of Texas)
Image 17Texas in 1718, Guillaume de L'Isle map, approximate state area highlighted, northern boundary was indefinite. (from History of Texas)
Image 18French Texas in 1685 consisted of Fort St. Louis on Matagorda Bay. (from History of Texas)
Image 19First Day of Passenger Service, Dallas & Sherman Interurban Railroad 1908 (from History of Texas)
Image 20Territories of some Native American tribes in Texas ~1500CE (from History of Texas)
Image 21Sam Houston served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and seventh governor of Texas. (from History of Texas)
Image 22Company D, Texas Rangers, at Realitos in 1887 (from History of Texas)
Image 23McAllen (from List of Texas metropolitan areas)
Image 24René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle founded the French colony in Texas. (from History of Texas)
Image 25Comancheria before 1850. (from History of Texas)
Image 26The Viceroyalty of New Spain in 1819 (from History of Texas)
Image 27The "Lone Star" Belle, postcard, around 1908. (from Culture of Texas)
Image 28President John F. Kennedy in the presidential limousine, minutes before his assassination (from History of Texas)
Image 29Spanish missions within the boundaries of what is now the state of Texas. (from History of Texas)