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28 sites. Texas has more than 16,000 state historical markers — search every one in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas .
10,000+ years · West Texas
El Paso · State historic site · National Register
Rock basins that held desert rainwater drew people for millennia; more than 200 painted masks — the largest concentration in North America — still mark the rocks.
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c. 4,000 years · West Texas
Comstock · State historic site
The Fate Bell Shelter holds some of the oldest painted murals in the Americas, created by hunter-gatherers of the Lower Pecos.
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c. 800 AD · Piney Woods
Alto · State historic site (THC)
The southwestern-most ceremonial center of the Mound Builders; the Hasinai Caddo lived here for five centuries and gave Texas its name — 'taysha,' friend.
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13,000 years · Panhandle Plains
Fritch · National monument
Rainbow-colored flint quarried here was traded across the continent from the Ice Age onward.
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1682 · West Texas
El Paso · Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Founded by Tigua people and Spanish refugees after the Pueblo Revolt, Ysleta is among the oldest continuously active parishes in the United States.
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1779 · Piney Woods
Nacogdoches · Oldest town in Texas · historic district
Built on a Caddo village site, Nacogdoches saw nine flags and multiple rebellions; the brick streets and the Old Stone Fort replica tell the story.
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1720–1731 · South Texas
San Antonio · UNESCO World Heritage Site
Concepción, San José, San Juan and Espada are still active parishes; the Espada Acequia and Aqueduct carry water as they did in the 1730s.
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1749 · South Texas
San Antonio · National Historic Landmark
The last remaining example of an aristocratic 18th-century Spanish home in Texas, once the presidio commander's quarters.
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1749 · Gulf Coast
Goliad · National Historic Landmark
The most fought-over fort in Texas; Fannin and about 400 men were held here before the Goliad Massacre of Palm Sunday 1836. 'Remember Goliad!' rang at San Jacinto.
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1835 · South Texas
Gonzales · Official State of Texas marker
The first shots of the Texas Revolution were fired on October 2, 1835, when settlers refused to return a small cannon. Gonzales also sent the only reinforcements to reach the Alamo.
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1836 · South Texas
San Antonio · UNESCO World Heritage Site · State shrine
From February 23 to March 6, 1836, Travis, Bowie, Crockett and roughly 200 defenders held the mission against Santa Anna's army. Their loss bought time and a battle cry.
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1836 · Gulf Coast
Washington · State historic site — birthplace of Texas
Delegates signed the Texas Declaration of Independence here on March 2, 1836, in an unfinished building now reconstructed as Independence Hall.
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1824 · Gulf Coast
San Felipe · State historic site
Stephen F. Austin's colonial capital, where the conventions of 1832 and 1833 and the Consultation of 1835 met.
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1836 · Gulf Coast
La Porte · National Historic Landmark
On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston's army routed Santa Anna in about 18 minutes, winning Texas independence. The 567-foot monument is taller than the Washington Monument.
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1888 · Hill Country
Austin · National Historic Landmark
Built of sunset-red granite and paid for with three million acres of Panhandle land that became the XIT Ranch. Free tours run daily.
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1846 · Hill Country
Fredericksburg · National Register historic district
German immigrants signed the Meusebach–Comanche Treaty in 1847, one of the few treaties with Native people never broken. Sunday houses and the Vereins Kirche remain.
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1853 · Hill Country
Bandera · State historical markers · Great Western Trail
A Mormon colony and cypress-shingle camp turned staging ground for the Great Western Cattle Trail. St. Stanislaus is one of the oldest Polish parishes in America, and dude ranches made it the Cowboy Capital in the 1920s.
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1854 · West Texas
Fort Davis · National historic site
One of the best-preserved frontier forts in the Southwest, home to Buffalo Soldier regiments guarding the San Antonio–El Paso road.
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1866–1890 · North Texas
Fort Worth · National Register historic district
Millions of longhorns passed through 'Cowtown' on the Chisholm Trail; the stockyards later became a hub of the meatpacking boom.
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1867 · Panhandle Plains
Albany · State historic site (THC)
A wild frontier post on the Western Trail whose 'Flat' drew Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp; today it keeps part of the official Texas Longhorn herd.
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1849 · Hill Country
Luckenbach · State historical marker
A German trading post that Waylon and Willie made famous — population about three, with a dance hall and a general store.
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1865 · South Texas
Brownsville · National Historic Landmark
The last land battle of the Civil War, fought a month after Appomattox.
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1865 · Gulf Coast
Galveston · Official State of Texas marker
On June 19, 1865, General Order No. 3 announced freedom to enslaved Texans here. The 'Absolute Equality' mural marks the spot; the Strand and 1900 Storm stories surround it.
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1840s · Piney Woods
Jefferson · National Register historic district
Once the busiest riverport in Texas, Jefferson kept its brick streets, antebellum homes and Jay Gould's private railroad car.
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1901 · Gulf Coast
Beaumont · National Historic Landmark (site)
The Lucas Gusher blew oil 150 feet high on January 10, 1901, and launched the modern petroleum age.
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1963–1969 · Hill Country
Stonewall · National historical park
President Johnson ran the country from his Pedernales River ranch; the Sauer-Beckmann living history farm sits across the river.
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1963 · North Texas
Dallas · National Historic Landmark district
The site of President Kennedy's assassination, with a museum that documents the day and his legacy.
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1965–1992 · Gulf Coast
Houston · National Historic Landmark
'Houston' was the first word spoken from the Moon; the restored Apollo-era control room is on the NASA tram tour.
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