Prettiest Town in Texas (Houston, Abilene: pool, horses, architecture)

[arrow_keys]

Georgetown - Has a pretty well preserved square and high ranking liberal arts college (Southwestern Univ.).
Salado - Really nice old part of town
Jefferson - The most haunted town in Texas!

Georgetown has done a good job keeping its character while having new development, but most small Texas towns have their junk too along the interstates and fringes.

[imaterry78259]

My bet would be Castroville, a european style town

[Alatex]

The only "pretty" part of TX I've visited so far is the Hill Country area.
The areas immediately west of Austin like Marble Falls are quite nice.

Wimberley also deserves some honorable mention as an attractive, very small town.

I love the natural springs in San Marcos and New Braunfels (though the built environment in San Marcos is rather lacking, and New Braunfels has some really attractive areas like Gruene but also a pile of generic suburban sprawl).

[NOTAM]

I like Blanco, Lampasas and Gatesville. Here are some pic of Lampasas' town pool, oldest spring fed bathing pool in Texas, and the park right in middle of town and the town square/courthouse:

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by bellestaroftexas

I like Blanco, Lampasas and Gatesville. Here are some pic of Lampasas' town pool, oldest spring fed bathing pool in Texas, and the park right in middle of town and the town square/courthouse:

Neat pic!!! Glad you are enjoying central Texas....

However, I thought that San Solomon Springs at Balmorhea was the oldest....no?

TPWD: Balmorhea State Park

[case44]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

Lemme guess: George Hamilton IV...?

Seriously, good one, JA!

Originally Posted by Jaybee

I had thought that (wispering) Bill Anderson wrote and recorded the song. A couple of months ago I posed the question on his website. Believe it or not he personally responded that he'd not written it. I was amazed.

TexasReb, you are correct with the singer and you win ten dollars.

Sorry, Jaybee -- wonderful consolation prizes for you. The answer to that is George Hamilton IV who sang it, but it was John D. Loudermilk who composed "Abilene", and it did well for Hamilton on the country charts. Whisperin' Bill had absolutely nothing to do with it. It was a great country song and I know it talked about Texas.

And Abilene's not such a bad town -- or city, either. But it certainly isn't small.

[wade_word]

I still vouch for Graham, Texas. That still holds a special place for me. They still have a drive-in theater there. Plus, it isn't too far from Possum Kingdom.

[NOTAM]

oh yeah! i used to live in Graham in Young County (and Bryson in Jack County, just north of Graham), and i forgot all about it! yes i love PK and Graham is a nice safe place. great great hospital-i worked there as an ER nurse. lots of money in that town, so they get the BEST.

Originally Posted by wade_word

I still vouch for Graham, Texas. That still holds a special place for me. They still have a drive-in theater there. Plus, it isn't too far from Possum Kingdom.

[Aggie]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

I have always wondered the same thing, and after JA posted it, I did some googling...and it left me none the wiser! Sites on Abilene, Texas claim it, but I found at least one which says it is about the Kansas town.

On a related tangent, just a respectful edit of our good friend and fellow Texan's jotting down of the verse, the words are "Women there DON'T treat you mean, in Abilene"

+1 ... you beat me to it! ...

[gy2020]

Back in the 1970's I traveled around the state taking childrens pictures in 5/10 stores. I also took pictures of towns nearby for my own use. I later sold the collection to SMU. There were 10,000 b/w photos and 1,000 color photos. Of all the towns I've been in and it includes all the towns mentioned in this thread my two favorite were Palacios on Matagorda Bay and my favorite was Kemah, south of Houston. So I would like to throw in both of these towns for consideration.