Stories
The people and businesses of Texas
Business spotlights, founder stories and local history from across the state.
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Royers Round Top Cafe: The Family Cafe in a Tiny Texas Town Known for Pie
Bud and Dr. Karen Royer moved from Houston in 1987 and took over a 40-seat cafe. Today Royers is known for pies like the…
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Czech Stop: The West, Texas Bakery and Gas Station Serving Kolaches Along I-35
Since 1983, Czech Stop has kept travelers fed with kolaches and Czech pastries at Exit 353 in West, Texas, halfway between Dallas and Austin.
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Excelsior House Hotel: A Riverboat-Era Inn in Jefferson Built in 1858
Captain William Perry built a home, offices and hotel on Big Cypress Bayou in 1858. Today the Excelsior House bills itself as Texas’s oldest…
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The Big Texan Steak Ranch: The Amarillo Family Restaurant Behind the Free 72-Ounce Steak
R.J. “Bob” Lee opened the Big Texan on Route 66 in 1960. Its 72-ounce steak challenge began with a bet and is still going.
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Chinati Hot Springs: A West Texas Desert Spring With More Than a Century of Stories
A 113-degree spring in the Chihuahuan Desert has been used for hundreds of years. Its owners have included a ranching couple, an artist and…
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Marfa Book Co.: The West Texas Bookstore Called World-Class Since 1999
Marfa Book Co. opened in 1999 in a town best known for art. It now combines books, a gallery and a coffee and wine…
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Rocketbuster Boots: The El Paso Workshop Making One-of-a-Kind Handmade Boots
In a 1900 warehouse in El Paso, a small team cuts, paints and stitches custom boots. The shop was once traded for a 1953…
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Luckenbach, Texas: How Hondo Crouch Turned a Hill Country Crossroads Into a Music Legend
A town with one general store and a handful of residents became world famous. The story begins with Hondo Crouch, a beer joint and…
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Wildseed Farms: From a Houston Seed Business to Texas’s Wildflower Farm Near Fredericksburg
John and Marilyn Thomas started planting wildflowers in 1981. Today Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg has fields, a nursery, a winery and a biergarten.
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Garrison Brothers Distillery: The Hill Country Distillery That Became Texas’s First Legal Whiskey Maker
Founded in 2006 in Hye, Garrison Brothers is Texas’s first and oldest legal whiskey distillery, and welcomes more than 50,000 visitors a year.
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Natural Bridge Caverns: How Four UT Students Discovered One of Texas’s Largest Cave Systems in 1960
In 1960, four University of Texas students squeezed into a narrow shaft on the Wuest ranch and found a vast cave network. Today it…
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Gruene Hall: Inside Texas’s Oldest Continually Operating Dance Hall, Built in 1878
A tin-roofed dance hall in New Braunfels has hosted music since 1878. George Strait, Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett have all played its small…