Origins of City Names in Texas (Houston, Dallas: land, stations, money)

[1751texan]

Austonio Tx

Fluvanna Tx

Bug Tussle Tx

Beans Creek Tx

[swcrafter]

I was told by a long time resident that the town was named cut and shoot because of the contests between the two men who founded the town. They could not decide on a name and held weekly cutting and shooting contests between them for the right to name the town. But since neither man could best the other,it became known as Cut and Shoot.

[KathrynAragon]

Kilgore was named after the gloriously named Constantine Buckley Kilgore. He was a judge, state senator, and Confederate veteran, the son of Willis Kilgore, was born in Coweta County, Georgia, in 1835. He moved to Texas with his parents in 1846, and they settled in Rusk County. He attended the Fowler Institute, clerked for Timothy Pillsbury, and was admitted to the bar after a year of study. Despite his opposition to secession, Kilgore volunteered during the Civil War in the Tenth Confederate Cavalry and was advanced to the rank of captain of Company G after reorganization of the regiment at Corinth. On the Kentucky campaign, Kilgore was made adjutant general of his brigade. He was wounded at Chickamauga, captured, and imprisoned at Fort Delaware from 1864 to March 1865. He returned to Rusk County after the war, resumed his law practice, and represented the county at the Constitutional Convention of 1875. In 1877 he moved to Wills Point. In 1880 he served as a Democratic elector, and in 1884 he represented the Seventh District in the Texas Senate, where he was elected president pro tem. He resigned in 1886 to run for the Fiftieth Congress and subsequently represented the Third District from March 1887 to March 1895. On March 20, 1895, he was appointed United States judge in Indian Territory (later Oklahoma) by President Grover Cleveland; he served in that office until his death. Kilgore was a Presbyterian and a Mason. He married Frances Barnett in 1858. He died in Ardmore, Indian Territory, on September 23, 1897, and was buried in the White Rose Cemetery at Wills Point. He built a home at the terminal of the International-Great Northern Railroad in 1872. The site later became the town of Kilgore, named in his honor.
KILGORE, CONSTANTINE BUCKLEY | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)

The town of Possum Kingdom is named after Possum Kingdom Reservoir.

POSSUM KINGDOM RESERVOIR. Possum Kingdom Reservoir, popularly known as Possum Kingdom Lake, is on the Brazos River in Palo Pinto, Stephens, Jack, and Young counties (its center is at 32°52' N, 98°26' W). It has a capacity of 724,700 acre-feet, a surface area of 19,800 acres, and a shoreline of 310 miles. Here Morris Sheppard Dam impounds 1,500,000 acre-feet of water annually for municipal, industrial, mining, irrigation, flood-control, recreational, and power-generation uses. Area hills and valleys, post oaks, and cedars make a "veritable paradise" for possums around the lake. The dam, named for Senator John Morris Sheppard and authorized by the United States Congress in 1935, was the first erected by the Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation District (see BRAZOS RIVER AUTHORITY). It was begun on May 29, 1938, under general contractors C. F. Lytle and A. L. Johnson and completed on March 20, 1941.

POSSUM KINGDOM RESERVOIR | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)

[High_Plains_Retired]

Muleshoe, Texas was named after the Muleshoe ranch that was founded in 1877 by Henry Black. The County, Bailey, was named after Peter James Bailey, a defender at the Alamo.

[Charles Jessup]

[quote=crbcrbrgv;2301184]Meadows Place, Texas is a small incorporated city that borders the southwest side of Houston, Stafford and Sugar Land. Up to 1983, Meadows Place was a part of Stafford. Not wanting to become part of Houston, and with Stafford not willing to take them in because of school district conflict, they decided to secede from Airport Rd. up to Bellfort which was the original plat of Meadows M.U.D. Initially, the town was called "Meadows" however the fact that there is already a city in Texas called "Meadow" caused officials to add the word "Place" to the name. Meadows Place, the Gateway to Fort Bend on 69 South at the first exit past Beltway 8, says it is "One Square Mile of Wonderful" and is becoming well known for its safety, schools, community events, nature center and increasing property values.

[TheOverdog]

Brady - named after Brady Creek which runs E/W through the town.
Eden - Named after Frederick Ede who donated land to become the town.
Menard - named after Michel Branamour Menard, who founded Galveston.

[C24L]

Midland was named Midland because it is halfway between Dallas and El Paso.

[supfromthesite]

Hebbronville named after James Hebbron who donated the land.

[DanielWayne]

I grew up in the Golden Triangle where lots of people have last names that end in -eaux. Ever since I was young I knew that Nederland, Tx was settled by Dutch. That was common knowledge. They even used to have a stereotypical windmill on their main plaza. But since I don't know anybody in real life on this forum, I'll admit that it wasn't until my late 30s (or maybe even 40s) that I realized that Nederland is just the Dutch way of saying... Netherlands. DOH!

[michaeltx9412]

Cotulla, TX was named after a Polish immigrant, Joseph Cotulla, who donated the land there.