Town of the Week, March 21, 1998
(Rebroadcast from October 8, 1994)

Take a visit to Belton, Texas; just listen in.

Belton, Texas

The intense fall colors of bluebonnets and Indian paint brushes stand out in the tree-studded hills along I-35, between Austin and Waco; where blackland prairie meets the central Texas hill country. There across the Leon River from Temple is the seat of Bell County, Belton, Texas. Belton grew up around a blacksmith shop, a store and a cotton-seed oil mill, to become a town of 12,000 people.

Many work at nearby Fort Hood. Belton gained national prominence back in the 1870s as the site of a Methodist women's splinter group, led by Mrs. Martha McWhirter, preaching a doctrine of sanctification. The town is prominent today as the home of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, one of the oldest colleges in Texas.

Belton is a favorite recreation spot; with a 12,000 acre lake for fishing, swimming and waterskiing. There's the old moonshine location, Stillhouse Hollow reservoir; Heritage Park -- built around 5 baseball diamonds; and Summerfun USA Water Park. Belton hosts one of the of largest 4th of July weeklong festivals in Texas with a rodeo, carnival, parade and fiddler's festival. This is hat country and our Town of the Week, Belton, Texas.

. . . "Texas" comes from the Hasinai Indian word "tejas," which means friends or allies. . . .about 10,000 B.C., the first ancient peoples (called Paleo-Indians) arrived in Texas. They hunted mammoths, giant bison and other animals that later became extinct. . . . in 1519, the Spanish explorer Pineda made a map of the Texas coast. This event marked the beginning of Spain's rule in Texas. . . . the Battle of the Alamo, lasting nearly two weeks, ended on March 6, 1836, with the deaths of all 190 of its defenders. (Santa Anna's Mexican army numbered 4,000+.) Among those killed were David Crockett, Jim Bowie and William B. Travis. . . . Spindletop, near Beaumont in East Texas, was Texas' first oil gusher in 1901. It signaled the beginning of the state's oil boom. . . . the capitol building was constructed almost entirely from native Texas granite and limestone, and covered more than two acres of ground. At its completion in 1888, it was claimed to be both the seventh largest building in the world and the largest state capitol in the nation. . . . Texas is as large as all of New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois combined. . . . there were more than 70 World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Texas, more than in any other state. Primarily housing German soldiers from the famed Afrika Korps, the Texas camps also held Italian and Japanese prisoners.

@ction Travel Group 16990 Dallas Parkway, Suite 201 Dallas, Texas 75248 Phone: (972) 931-9001 Fax: (972) 931-9014 e-mail: atg@ont.com website: www.tourtexas.com Travel Texas Texas Highways Virtual Texan

Nickname: The Lone Star State Motto: Friendship Song: "Texas, Our Texas" Bird: Mockingbird Fish: Guadalupe bass Tree: Pecan Flower: Bluebonnet Insect: Monarch butterfly Gem: Blue topaz Stone: Petrified palmwood Dish: Chili Grass: Sideoats grama Fruit: Texas red grapefruit Seashell: Lightning whelk (found only on Gulf Coast) Mammal: Texas Longhorn Folk Dance: Square dance

Info for "D'ja Know?" and "Fun Facts" compiled from the Virtual Texan and the Texas State website

The Texanese Dictionary

Dallas is a city much influenced by "Yankee" immigration. However, if you bump into a bona fide Texan, this cram course might come in handy.

Are: 60 minutes, as in "We gotta wait a whole are 'til lunch, and Ahm hongry."

Ast: past tense of ask, as in "Ah ast everybody, and they said this is the beggest 'n best convention we've had."

Banes: kidney-shaped seed of certain plants of the pea family, as in "This chili shore is loaded with banes."

Bars: those who buy, as in "Didja ever see so many bars at a wholesale market?"

Cheer: at or in this place, as in "Ah'll wait right cheer, if'n you won't be long."

Cheeyips: potatoes sliced and fried, served cold, as in "Thet sandwich comes with cheeyips."

Keyab: taxi, as in "Where kin ah ketch a kayab to Greenville Avenue?"

Mah: an exclamation of surprise or dismay, as in "Mah! How you Northerners speak Ainglish."

Node: past tense of know, as in "Ah node you would think Texans was the friendliest people you ever did meet."

Prod: highly pleased with, as in "Ah shore am prod Ahm a Texan."

Rejterashun: place where delegates register, as in "Yawl can git one of them pocket guides to Ft. Worth at the convention rejterashun."

Seed: past tense of see, as in "Ah seed it with mah own eyes."

Tempachure: an indicator of heat or cold, as in "The tempachure must be a hunert'n ten out thar."

Yankee: person born north of Dallas, as in "Thar's so many Yankees livin in Dallas that it's well nigh impossible ta find a true Texan."