Texas Country Reporter
January 30, 2023
The Last Peppermint Show: An East Texas Candy Shop Keeps a Tradition Alive
Halfway between Mineola and Tyler, Lindale Candy Company has been creating hand-pulled peppermint since 1946.
Being Texan
Texas Country Reporter
January 27, 2023
Houston’s Hobbit Cafe: From Hippie-dippie to Double-decker
Founder Raymond Edmonds reflects on his Tolkien-inspired vegetarian cafe, which has expanded over fifty years and earned the love of even cheeseburger connoisseurs.
Texas Country Reporter
January 23, 2023
A Texas Artist Creates Detailed Images With Nothing but Her Lips
Natalie Irish describes her lipstick-art process as “making out with a canvas.” Her stamplike technique showcases her unique brand of creativity and playful irreverence.
Texas Country Reporter
January 20, 2023
A Texas Man Discovered an Old Boat in the Attic. Now What?
Wichita Falls resident Jim Loudermilk carefully removed a 1930s racing sailboat from an old downtown building and restored it to its original glory.
Texas Country Reporter
January 20, 2023
A Nacogdoches Artist Creates Giant Metalworks for the Kids Inside Us All
Jeffie Brewer’s sculptures transform rusty metal into whimsical figures that look like drawings from a coloring book.
Texas Country Reporter
January 19, 2023
A Visit to This Is It, Houston’s Soul Food Staple
Texas Country Reporter interviews Craig Joseph, grandson of the restaurant’s original owners.
Texas Country Reporter
January 19, 2023
A Forester Turned Artist Creates Wire Sculptures of Trees
Retired forester Mike Woody lives in a log cabin in the Piney Woods creating intricate tree sculptures. You just can’t make this stuff up.
Texas Country Reporter
January 18, 2023
Meet the Couple Behind the Tropical Taqueria in East Texas
Rogelio and Carrie Tellez combine the cuisines of their Mexican and Pacific Islander roots at a restaurant that serves tacos unlike any others in Texas.
Texas Country Reporter
January 17, 2023
The Lone Bookstore in a Town With No Library
Heidi Frazier opened 40 Acre Wood over ten years ago with a mission to make books accessible to any and all readers in the small town of Lexington.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The Texanist: What Will Texas Look Like Fifty Years From Now?
Some tasty lab-grown barbecue and a Dallas Cowboys postseason appearance may be in our distant future.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
See How Texas’s Big-city Skylines Have Changed Over the Past Half Century
Why has San Antonio fallen behind Houston, Dallas, and Austin?
By
Jeff Salamon
![Jeff Salamon's Profile Photo]()
Texas Country Reporter
January 17, 2023
“Wouldn’t People Like Some Good News?”: The Lasting Popularity of ‘Texas Country Reporter’
Host Bob Phillips reflects on how fifty-year-old ‘Texas Country Reporter’ became a state institution.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
We’ve Always Claimed That Everything Is Bigger Here. It’s Time for Us to Prove It.
For more than fifty years, the state I call home has repeatedly surprised me. The Texas of 2023? Well, it’s got me thinking a lot about how far we have, and haven’t, come.
By
Mimi Swartz
![Mimi Swartz's Profile Photo]()
Texas Country Reporter
January 10, 2023
The Black Cowboy Museum, in Rosenberg, Fills an Important Gap
Former roper and country music singer Larry Callies was always a cowboy at heart, but when he was growing up, he rarely saw any representations of Black cowboys, despite a rich history. So in 2017, he founded the Black Cowboy Museum, which features a collection of
Texas Country Reporter
January 9, 2023
This Austin Burger Joint Blends Two Texas Cultures
Mo Pittle set out to capture his Jewish heritage and upbringing in El Paso on the menu of JewBoy Burgers.
Best Thing In Texas
January 3, 2023
The Butter King of Corpus Christi Deserves a Raise
He serves popcorn with panache.
By
Dan Solomon
![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Best Thing In Texas
December 21, 2022
Folks in Boerne Bought Hundreds of Poinsettias to Support a Struggling Garden Shop
That’s the holiday spirit, y’all.
Being Texan
December 20, 2022
15 Items to Add to Your Winter Emergency Kit
May we suggest tickets to Cancun?
By
Emily McCullar
![Emily McCullar's Profile Photo]()
and
Dan Solomon
![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Best Thing In Texas
December 20, 2022
A Texan Donated a Kidney to a Stranger 1,600 Miles Away. Now, “We Are Family.”
Heather Schaefer saw a desperate Facebook plea. Six months later, she had two new members of her extended family—and one less kidney.
By
Dan Solomon
![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Being Texan
December 19, 2022
The Iranian-Texan Teaching Persian Through Protest
For years, Austinite Leyla Shams worked to keep politics out of her language classes. But as the uprising in Iran continues, she’s no longer staying silent.
The Texanist
December 13, 2022
The Texanist: Will We Get Relief From the Drought Anytime Soon?
A Johnson City man is worried that life is starting to resemble Elmer Kelton’s ‘The Time It Never Rained’ once again.
Best Thing In Texas
December 12, 2022
The Best Things in Texas, 2023
2022 was an up-and-down year—well, maybe more downs than ups—but Texas, as ever, brought out the best from scatological artists, beastly athletes, game-show brainiacs, natural-born nature lovers, and costumed Samaritans.
Best Thing In Texas
December 12, 2022
The Best Things in Texas 2023: The Texans Vaccinating the World
Houstonians Dr. Peter Hotez and Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi have created a COVID vaccine that’s saving millions of lives in developing nations.
Best Thing In Texas
December 12, 2022
The Best Things in Texas 2023: The Most Inspiring Educator In the Country
Barbara Yarbrough has taught and volunteered in Midland since segregation—and has won national recognition at age 87.
Best Thing In Texas
December 12, 2022
The Best Things in Texas 2023: The Best NBA Coach Ever
Gregg Popovich, of the San Antonio Spurs, became the winningest coach in NBA history, but that’s just one of several eye-popping facts from his extraordinary career.
Meanwhile in Texas
December 6, 2022
Guns N’ Roses Welcomes Texas Firearms and Flower Shop to the Jungle With a Lawsuit
The band aims to bring Texas Guns and Roses to its kn-kn-kn-kn-knees—or at least compel it to change its name.
By
Dan Solomon
![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
White Hats
December 1, 2022
Who Owns the Narrative? Texas Law Enforcement Versus Tejano Journalists
At the turn of the century, Mexican American publications paid a price for challenging the local sheriff and elements of the Texas Rangers.
White Hats
November 29, 2022
Delve Deeper Into the Violent, Complex History of the Texas Rangers With These Eleven Stories
The truth is more nuanced, and more instructive, than the myth.
White Hats
November 16, 2022
The Friendship That Inspired a Myth: Texas Ranger Jack Coffee Hays and Lipan Apache Chief Flacco
The historic partnership became pop-culture lore, but Texas’s broken promises to the tribe illustrated a different reality.
The Texanist
November 15, 2022
The Texanist: How Do You Become an Honorary Texan?
A Plano man wonders how the likes of Bob Dylan, Sarah Palin, and John Wayne qualified for this prestigious designation.
Best Thing In Texas
November 2, 2022
CrossFit Star Dani Speegle Handles 215-Pound Logs Like Pick-Up Sticks
The CrossFit athlete and #GirlsWhoEat impresario stole the show at the annual Rogue Invitational in Round Rock.
Meanwhile in Texas
October 21, 2022
Marvel at This Footage of Somebody Stealing a 12-Foot Halloween Skeleton in Broad Daylight
It’s impressive, really.
The Texanist
October 18, 2022
The Texanist: Do We Really Want Texas to Be “Wine Country”?
A Lubbock woman isn’t sure the state’s wildly successful vineyards fit with our Wild West image.
Texas History
October 12, 2022
Luckenbach Is a Hill Country Treasure. Can It Be Saved?
A bitter feud is pitting Hondo Crouch’s descendants against longtime locals as well as encroaching developers.
Being Texan
October 8, 2022
This 1981 Photo Essay Captured Why Being an Aggie Is Not at All Funny
Will Van Overbeek's images, with words by Oscar-winning screenwriter and Texas A&M alum and proud Aggie Al Reinert, were "good bull."
Politics & Policy
October 5, 2022
The Editor’s Suggestion That Led to Kinky Friedman Running for Governor
The musician, author, and columnist needed an idea. Texas Monthly’s then–editor in chief said, “Make something up.” The rest is history.
By
John Spong
![John Spong's Profile Photo]()
Texas Country Reporter
September 30, 2022
A La Grange Artist Creates Hyperrealistic Wildlife Art With the Flick of a Pen
Sally Maxwell’s images, made from thousands upon thousands of hairline scratches, are impressively detailed.
Texas Country Reporter
September 29, 2022
Guardian of the Whooping Cranes
One of our most important TCR stories involved a surprise encounter with an early advocate of whooping crane conservation efforts.
Texas Country Reporter
September 28, 2022
The Magic of Doug Smith
After a terrible car accident, the self-taught pianist’s reprise was nothing short of amazing.
Texas Country Reporter
September 28, 2022
Meet the College Station Couple Flipping Airstreams Left and Right
The waiting list is long for the husband-and-wife duo who rebuild, redesign, and reimagine the iconic, retro travel trailers.
Texas Country Reporter
September 27, 2022
This Rusty Scrapyard Off Route 66 Is a Hot-rodder’s Playground
In the rolling plains of the Panhandle, Bob Owen tears up what’s left of old vehicles so that some classic cars get a chance at a new life.
Texas Country Reporter
September 27, 2022
Harrel’s Kingsville Pharmacy Near King Ranch Hasn’t Changed a Bit
Since 1916, the drugstore and soda fountain has maintained its retro charm and service to the community.
Texas Country Reporter
September 22, 2022
The Crazy Kolache Lady of Calvert
Jody Powers ran a bakery with her grandmother’s kolache recipes, and when business would slow down, she would resort to unusual promotion tactics.
Texas Country Reporter
September 21, 2022
Meet the Patron Saint of Texas Game Fish
Years ago, Kenneth Henneke helped develop a feisty catfish, and now he stocks a variety of species for anglers across the state.
Texas Country Reporter
September 20, 2022
The Legend of Old Rip Was Pretty Unbelievable
I’m not sure I ever bought the story of the Texas horned lizard that survived thirty years in a courthouse cornerstone, but it’s a tale that reminds me why I love storytelling.
Texas Country Reporter
September 19, 2022
Wildorado Cattle Company Is Not Your Average High School Gig
Far in the Panhandle, an upstart ag program at a small-town school has become a start-up business run by the students.
Texas Country Reporter
September 16, 2022
This Boys Ranch ISD Teacher Is Building a Reputation for Rocketry
Barre Wheatley leads an ambitious program that encourages students to shoot for the moon.
Texas Country Reporter
September 15, 2022
Antique Auto Supply Had Nine Warehouses, a Million Parts, and One Memorable Owner
Stacy Brown of Arlington was just the character to reignite my love of muscle cars.
Texas Country Reporter
September 14, 2022
Inside the Shop With the Skillet Man of Paint Rock
At the edge of the Hill Country, Randy Kiser creates handcrafted carbon steel wares for the kitchen.
Texas Country Reporter
September 14, 2022
This Houston Nun Waited Decades to Root for Her Home Team
In 2007, Texas Country Reporter met Sister Damian, the Houston Astros’ most patient and faithful baseball fan.