Texas Facts
Our great state has many official icons and other interesting tidbits. These facts also serve as a resource for use in local government and economic development brochures and publications.
- Texas comes from the Hasinai Indian word “tejas” meaning friends or allies.
- Composer William J. Marsh of Fort Worth, along with lyricist Gladys Yoakum Wright, wrote “Texas, Our Texas.” This patriotic song was adopted in 1929 as the official state song of Texas after being selected in a state-wide competition.
- The state pepper is the jalapeño.
- The state grass is the sideoats grama.
- The state motto is “friendship”.
- The state vegetable is the 1015 sweet onion, and the state fruit is the Texas red grapefruit.
- The official dish of Texas is chili.
- Texas’ official dance is the square dance.
- The armor-plated armadillo is the offical state small mammal and the Guadalupe bass is the state fish.
- Texas' official flying mammal is the Mexican Free-tailed Bat.
- The state large mammal is the longhorn.
- The lightning whelk is the official state shell.
- More wool comes from the state of Texas than any other state in the United States.
- The first suspension bridge in the United States was the Waco Bridge, built in 1870 and still in use today as a pedestrian crossing of the Brazos River.
- El Paso is closer to Needles, California than it is to Dallas.
- Texas includes 267,339 square miles, or 7.4% of the nation's total area.
- The Heisman trophy is named for John William Heisman—the first full-time coach and athletic director at Rice University in Houston.