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About This Quiz
It's a state famous for its attitude: "Everything's bigger in Texas" and "Don't Mess With Texas" are rallying battle cries among its 28+ million residents. And, maybe for good reason. Texas was born from hostility, having been settled by Spanish missionaries in the early 1700s, only to become part of Mexico and then fight for its independence in the 1830s before rejoining the United States in 1845. It remains the only state to have the flags of five different countries fly over it: Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas and the U.S.
Today, its 268,820 square miles makes it the second-largest state in the Union. As a state, it is as varied as it is large. The corporate headquarters of places like Dell and Compaq earned Texas its designation as Silicon Valley of the south. It boasts a vast amount of wool, as well as whitetail deer. Its capital city is renowned for its live music scene, and it can boast as being the home of Dr Pepper, a soft drink with 23 flavors created in 1885.
This quiz features 40 bits of Texas trivia, but with a catch: Letters are missing from each city or town's name. Plug in the correct letter using your knowledge of the Lone Star State and complete these Texas towns' names. Get them all and consider yourself a star ... a Dallas Star, that is!
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Austin has been Texas' capital since 1839, but it wasn't the first choice; it was the seventh. At the time, it was known as Waterloo, but was later renamed Austin after Stephen F. Austin.
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The NBA team known as the Spurs calls San Antonio its home. Currently coached by player and fan favorite Gregg Popovich, the team has five NBA championships to its credit, dating between 1999 and 2014.
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The television series "Dallas" was a soap opera that aired at night from 1978 until the early 1990s. It has routinely made "best television series" lists throughout the years.
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Texas Medical Center in Houston is the world's largest medical complex, seeing more than 10 million patient visitors each year. The complex encompasses more than 50 million developed square feet, according to its website.
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The Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Fort Worth produces 60 percent of the currency in the United States, which works out to about $10 million per hour on the days it's in operation.
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El Paso has dubbed itself, perhaps unofficially, as the "boot capital of the world." They boast nearly 50 different boot makers in the area, all of whom still make boots the old-fashioned way: by hand.
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Arlington is home to the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium, which has earned the nickname "Jerry World" in honors of the Cowboys' owner, Jerry Jones. The stadium holds 100,000 people.
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Corpus Christi earned its name after the individual who discovered it did so on the Catholic feast day of Corpus Christi. The celebration is a Roman Catholic tradition, and the words "Corpus Christi" mean "body of Christ."
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Plano replaced Addison as Pizza Hut's corporate headquarters in 2011, encompassing more than 175,000 square feet spread among 20 acres. In addition to office space, the campus offers daycare facilities and a fitness center.
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The seven flags that hang over Laredo represent Spain, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Confederate States of America, the United States and the Republic of the Rio Grande. The Republic of the Rio Grande was a nation that a rebellion movement in northern Mexico hoped to establish, though it never became a recognized state.
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Lubbock, Texas, has been the stomping grounds of several famous people, including musicians Buddy Holly and Waylon Jennings and football players Ryan Tannehill and Mason Crosby.
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Irving, Texas is believed to have gotten its name from "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" author Washington Irving. The author was a favorite of town founder Otis Brown's wife, Netta.
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Judy Garland was still a teenager when she played the iconic role of Dorothy Gale in "The Wizard of Oz." There's no known connection, however, between Judy Garland and Garland, Texas, which is located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
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In Amarillo, if you can eat a 72-oz. steak and the rest of the meal in an hour or less, your meal is free. Fail, and you'll owe $72 for the meal at the Big Texan Steak Ranch and Brewery.
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The town of Grand Prairie, Texas spans three counties: Dallas, Tarrant and Ellis. Grand Prairie was originally known as Dechman in honor of its founder, but was later changed due to post office confusion.
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McKinney, Texas earned its name from Collin McKinney, who was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The Texas Declaration of Independence was the official document that Texas used to declare its independence from Mexico.
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The National Videogame Museum is located in Frisco, Texas and allows visitors to learn about the history of the industry, from its physical artifacts to the stories behind the creation of various elements, according to the museum's website.
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Brownsville, Texas is just across the border from the Mexican city Matamoros, which likely contributed to the city being used to smuggle Confederate goods into the country during the Civil War.
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Pasadena, California rings a bell with most people, but what do you know about Pasadena, Texas? It is considered a suburb of the Houston area and is home to roughly 150,000 people.
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Fort Hood is a military base located in Killeen, Texas. It was named in honor of a Confederate general known as John Hood, who led an infantry brigade during the U.S. Civil War.
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You might think some place in California or Florida would hold the title of "City of Palms," but the honor goes to McAllen, Texas for its surplus of tropical foliage. Locals say the nickname was mostly created and used to draw people to the area.
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Situated as the midway point between El Paso and Fort Worth, Midland, Texas, this designation was awarded by the Texas and Pacific Railroad in the late 1800s. More recently, it has been home to two presidents: George H.W. Bush and his son, George W. Bush.
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The "Mean Green" is the mascot of the University of North Texas, located in Denton, Texas. Denton is located in close proximity to Dallas and Fort Worth, and is well-known for its active music scene.
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The siege at the Branch Davidian complex in 1993 was a black mark on the city of Waco, Texas that its residents would surely like to forget. The siege went on for 51 days and claimed the lives of 80 people.
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You've heard of Silicon Valley in California, but what about the Silicon Prairie in Texas? That's what Carrollton is known as, being home to corporations including Cisco, Dell, Nokia and Texas Instruments at one time or another.
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Round Rock, Texas was originally known as Brushy, due in part to its location near Brushy Creek. Not only did its name later change, but so did its location, which headed east to follow the railroad that came through the area.
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If you want to visit Abilene, you better specify Texas or Kansas, since there are two. Abilene, Texas came second, however, named by a cattle rancher for the cattle town known as Abilene, Kansas.
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Pearland, Texas, was promoted by its founders as an "agricultural Eden," likely to draw people to the community. The abundance of pear trees in the area also contributed to its name and its Eden nickname.
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Odessa, Texas has a thing for jackrabbits, apparently. Its downtown is home to the world's largest jackrabbit statute, an eight-foot-tall monument named Jack Ben Rabbit, which was built in 1962.
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The Woodlands as a community was started in the mid-1970s by George Mitchell. Mitchell was an entrepreneur and real estate developer credited as being the "father of fracking," a process by which gas is extracted from shale rock.
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College Station is home to Texas A&M University, which houses the George W. Bush Presidential Library. Texas A&M is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of Texas.
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Tyler, Texas boasts the United States' largest rose garden, taking up more than 14 acres of ground. The Tyler Municipal Rose Garden has more than 38,000 varieties of rose bushes the public can walk through.
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The Newby-McMahon Building in downtown Wichita Falls has been dubbed "world's smallest skyscraper," jutting an impressive 39 feet into the air. It's a local joke, of course, but didn't start out that way. Its builder hoodwinked investors out of $200,000 by causing them to anticipate something much grander.
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If you want to trace the history of train robberies in Texas, you have to start in Allen, the site of the first in Texas history. In February 1878, the robbers made off with roughly $1,500.
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Sugar Land is an appropriate name for a town known for its sugar production. It was dubbed Sugar Land when the burgeoning railway in Texas was built through sugar fields.
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A mound constructed by American Indians in the area contributed to this Texas town's name. It is also known to be covered with a plethora of wildflowers, which makes sense if you consider the town's name.
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Pharr, Texas was named for a sugarcane grower known as Henry Pharr. Originally from Louisiana, Pharr hoped to create a sugarcane empire in the town that bears his name, but quickly discovered the soil was not ideal for the sweet crop.
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Rowlett, Texas earned its name from Rowlett Creek, which was known to flow on the home property of Daniel -- get this -- Rowlett. Rowlett is a suburb of Dallas.
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Grapevine earned its name for -- you guessed it -- a plethora of the vining plants that produce grapes. The city is home to various wineries that put all of those grapes to good use.
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Galveston, Texas has long been a favorite of spring breakers and vacationers. This is due to its island location, favorable temperatures and an excess of tourist attractions to keep people busy.
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You Got:
/40
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