Texas History Desk
Local history, archive work, courthouse records, old roads, forgotten names, true-crime files, and the Eastland County stories that still shape how this place is remembered.
Latest in Texas History
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The rail line Eastland tried to save in 1944
The Alliance Gazette In January 1944, residents from communities served by the Eastland, Wichita Falls & Gulf Railroad gathered in Eastland to oppose its proposed abandonment. The Weekly Chronicle’s January 7 report described a Tuesday-afternoon meeting chaired by Carl Johnson, president of the Eastland Chamber of Commerce. Representatives…
Texas History Desk
More from Texas History
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Before Hilton: The Mobley Hotel’s Cisco Beginnings
Henry Mobley opened the hotel in 1916. Conrad Hilton bought it during the oil boom, years before a hotel carried the Hilton name. The Alliance Gazette Before the…
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The eight-hour promise in Eastland County’s oil boom
In 1919, a new Ranger newspaper promised an eight-hour news advantage. Archival pages preserve the pitch and two different dates for its beginning.
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The Holiday That Arrived With Troops
The working people Labor Day was built to honor, and the uneasy circumstances under which the federal government finally granted them the day By Jett Whittington, The Alliance…
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Latest Texas History News
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The Confederacy: A Flag Texas Must Remember Honestly
Texas joined the Confederacy in 1861. Its fifth flag represents secession, slavery, civil war and a legacy that still shapes public memory.
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Blue Duck: The Outlaw Texas Adopted Through Legend
He belonged more to the borderlands and Indian Territory than to Texas itself — but folklore and fiction gave him a lasting place in the Texas imagination.
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The Texas Bandit Queen
Belle Starr: How Texas Helped Make a “Bandit Queen” Her legend grew into dime-novel royalty, but the real woman behind the title was far more complicated than the…
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Spain: The Flag That Gave Texas Its First European Shape
Spanish exploration, missions, roads, ranching, law, and settlement left lasting marks on Texas while Indigenous histories long predated European claims.
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France: The Short-Lived Flag That Changed Texas Forever
France’s failed Fort St. Louis colony was brief, but it pushed Spain to strengthen its presence and permanently altered the contest for Texas.
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John Wesley Hardin: Texas Made the Legend
A preacher’s son became one of the Old West’s most feared gunmen, while John Wesley Hardin’s own claims helped turn a violent life into Texas legend.
Six Flags Over Texas Series
- Spain: The Flag That Gave Texas Its First European Shape July 12, 2026
- France: The Short-Lived Flag That Changed Texas Forever July 12, 2026
- Mexican Texas: The Nation That Opened Texas — and Lost It July 12, 2026
- The Republic of Texas: Where the Texas Myth Was Forged July 12, 2026
Texas Outlaws
- John Wesley Hardin: Texas Made the Legend July 12, 2026
- Sam Bass: The Folk Hero Texas Never Really Had July 12, 2026
- Bill Longley: The Outlaw Who Could Not Escape the Gallows July 12, 2026
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Series and Reader Contributions
The Gazette organizes continuing history projects here so readers can follow each series in order.
Have a local history lead, document, photo, or family record that may help explain Eastland County history? Send it to The Alliance Gazette.