Texas is the 2nd most populous and the 2nd most extensive state in area, with 254 counties. The state capital is Austin. Texas attained statehood on December 29, 1845 (28th state to join the union). The photograph above is an example of it’s vastness, taken from Willow Mountain with the Chisos Mountains in the far right distance. Additional links to resources will be added as discovered or as time permits.

BOOKS:

Callahan County Historical Commission. (1986) I Remember Callahan: History of Callahan County, Texas. Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company.

Chrisman, Brutus Clay. (1972) Early Days in Callahan County. 2nd Edition. Abilene: Abilene Printing & Stationery Company.

FamilySearch. Early Texas Birth Records, Vols. 1&2. https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/189815?availability=Family%20History%20Library : accessed 16 April 2024.

Gard, Wayne. (1954) The Chisholm Trail. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.

Storey, John W. and Kelley, Mary L., eds. Twentieth-Century Texas: A Social and Cultural History. Denton, Texas: The University of North Texas Press. ISBN: 978-1-57441-246-8.

LINKS TO UNIVERSITY AND CITY REPOSITORIES:

Baylor University Libraries – Digital Collections highlights: Black Gospel Music, “War of the Rebellion Atlas”, poets, Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning letters, 30K+ titles of American sheet music, Baylor Lariat campus newspapers and more.

Benson Latin American Collection highlights: original manuscripts, photographs, colonial documents, and more relating to Latinas and Latinos in Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and the U.S.

Bexar Archives at the Briscoe Center for American History highlights: 300K documents for the Spanish province of Texas and the Mexican state of Coahuila y Texas, with 5K+ original digitized documents.

Briscoe Center for American History – University of Texas at Austin highlights: American Energy Industry, American South, Texas History, civil rights and social justice, political history, quilts, photography and more.

City of San Antonio Digital Collections highlights: city council books, city maps, audio recordings, maps, and Faces with Names collection of Vietnam soldiers.

Corpus Christi Public Libraries Archives highlights: photographs, postcards, manuscripts, papers, audio recordings, family papers and more.

Digital Public Library (Texas) highlights: 2 million records (subset of the information found in the U.S. resource, specifically for Texas).

Harris County Archives. Genealogy Records. https://archives.hcpl.net/genealogy-resources-1.

Houston Public Library Digital Archives highlights: materials from the African American Library at the Gregory School, the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research (which we have used in research projects), and the Houston Metropolitan Research Center.

Lamar University Tyrrell History Library Digital Collection highlights: genealogical documents (records, photographs, recordings, papers) from the Beaumont area, including collections for Spindletop, oil and gas collections, postcards, Beaumont Ironworks, the 1908 and 1909 Standard Blue Book of Texas and more.

Rice University Digital Scholarship Archive highlights: university materials including newspapers, slavery, the Battle of Sabine Pass, Houston canals, rivers, and channels, Asian studies, books and other materials.

Sam Houston State University Newton Gresham Library Digital Collections highlights: historic college documents, Huntsville, military veteran videos, recent historic events as well as materials on General Sam Houston.

Southern Methodist University Digital Collections highlights: Texas and Civil War history, Mexico and the Southwest, Dallas aerial photographs, railroads and more.

Texas A&M University – Commerce Special Collections and University Archives highlights: records, books, photographs, maps, artifacts related to Northeast Texas.

Texas A&M University Digital Collections highlights: science fiction studies in Texas, City of Bryan records, Brazos County aerial photographs, 1830 map of Texas, veterinary medicine 1890s-present, geologic surveys of Texas, A&M materials, maps of Cuba, music, Texas African American farming and community life (1930s-1960s) and more.

Texas Southern University Special Collections highlights: WWII war ration book, manuscripts, and other materials. 

Texas State University Digital Collections highlights: University archives and collections related to Governor Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca (Spanish conquistador), the making of the television miniseries Lonesome Dove, Austin music posters (1967-1982) and various papers, documents and photography.

Texas Tech Southwest Collection / Special Collections Library highlights: North Texas artifacts including newspapers, manuscripts, photography, information on the Southwest, the Petroleum Museum, Lubbock and other areas.

Texas Tech University – The Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive highlights: Vast collection of digitized content related to the Vietnam War, such as military operations, POW/MIA, My Lai massacre, Agent Orange, antiwar activities, and more.

Texas Woman’s University – Woman’s Collection highlights: University archives and many collections related to women’s history; military, activism, culinary history and more.

University of Houston Digital Library highlights: many collections including artifacts on Texas history, Houston city fire department, retail brochures, pamphlets, catalogs and many other titles.

University of North Texas Portal To Texas History highlights: 1.8+ million items including books, photographs, maps, yearbooks, newspapers, family papers and scrapbooks and much more. A favorite!!

University of Texas at Arlington Libraries highlights: many collections, Mexican American studies, Texas Labor archives, Texas political history, maps and atlases, US and Mexico war and much more.

University of Texas at Arlington Tejano Voices highlights: personal recollections of 173 Tejanos and Tejanas and their struggle post WWII. 

University of Texas at Austin Tarlton Law Library highlights: historical collections related to legal events and achievements which include probates, photographs, legal briefs and more.

University of Texas El Paso Digital Commons highlights: University historic archives, El Paso city directories, recollections and photographs.

University of Texas Health at San Antonio highlights: history of medicine and University archives (manuscripts, audio, video and photographs). 

University of Texas at San Antonio Digital Collection highlights: San Antonio history, Texan cultures, Hemisfair 1968, photographs, manuscripts and more.

Victoria College / University Regional History Center highlights: photographs collections from the area and VCU yearbooks.

MAPS:

Texas General Land Office’s Map collection

Portal to Texas History GLO Maps

University of Texas at Austin Perry-Castañeda Library, Map Collection: Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps – Texas (1877-1922).