Confusing Community/County Names

Texas has 254 counties and Texas has a lot of communities with the same (or very similar) names as the counties. I created a chart to see how many of those communities are in the counties of the same name. For this task, a community might be a huge city (like Houston) or a ghost town with fewer than 20 people.

The 18 actual ghost towns I found with names of counties are Angelina, Calhoun, Callahan City, Cottle, Dallam, Duval, Foard City, Fort Bend, Frio Town, Hansford, Kleberg, Martin, Red River, Roberts, Runnels City, Sutton, Tarrant, and Wood City. Some of these were actually in the county of the same name and were intended to be county seats but were deserted for one reason or another - usually related to the railroad or water; perhaps a drought or a hurricane or two.

I found that 90 counties don't exactly share their names with a present-day community but some were sort of close. Some were so close that I actually used them - like the ones with 'city' in their names. Some locations that are not quite that close or maybe deserve a second look are: Baylor University, Bee Cave, Beeville, Brownsville, Brownwood, Camp Wood, Castroville, Davis, Davis Switch, Davistown, Edwards Plateau, Fayetteville, Fort Davis, Gainesville, Greenville, Gruene, Hale Center, Hogg, Hutchins, Jacinto City, Jacksboro, Jacksonville, Kerrville, Leon Valley, Madisonville, McKinney, Red River (the river), San Jacinto Battleground, Stephenville, Valley Mills, Van, Village Mills, Wells, William Penn, Williams Park, Williams Ranch, Willis and Woodville. Some of these might be confused with counties or other locations of similar names.

The 71 communities with the same names as their counties (including some that are 'very' similar) are - Andrews, Archer City, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Brazoria, Burnet, Cass, Childress, Coleman, Collin, Comanche, Concho, Cooke, Coryell, Crane, Dallas, Denton, Dickens, Eastland, El Paso, Freestone, Galveston, Goliad, Gonzales, Hamilton, Hartley, Haskell, Hays, Hidalgo, Jasper, Jones City, Karnes, Kaufman, Knox City, Lampasas, Liberty, Lipscomb, Llano, Lubbock, Mason, Matagorda, Menard, Midland, Montague, Montgomery, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Newton, Nolan, Ochiltree, Orange, Palo Pinto, Panola, Presidio, Refugio, Rockwall, San Augustine, San Saba, Sterling City, Throckmorton, Trinity, Uvalde, Victoria, Washington, Webb, Wharton, Wheeler, Zapata and Zavalla.

And the final category (95) that confuses so many people are the communities that share a name with counties outside the ones in which they're located. This category includes Houston, Austin and several county seats but mostly our smallest settlements like Hall: Anderson, Armstrong, Atascosa, Austin, Bailey, Bells, Borden, Bowie, Brazos, Briscoe, Brooks, Burleson, Caldwell, Cameron, Carson, Cherokee, Clay, Cochran, Coke, Colorado City, Crockett, Crosby, Dawson, de Leon, Dimmit, Ector, Erath, Falls City, Fannin, Fisher, Floyd, Franklin, Garza, Gray, Gregg, Guadalupe, Hall, Hardin, Harrison, Hemphill, Henderson, Hill City, Hockley, Hood, Houston, Howard, Hunt, Jefferson, Johnson City, Kenedy, Kent, King, La Salle, La Ward, Lake Jackson, Lamar, Lee, Live Oak, Loving, Marion, Maverick, Medina, Milam, Moore, Oldham, Parker, Pecos, Port Aransas, Port Lavaca, Reagan, Robertson, Rusk, Sabine, San Leon, San Patricio, Scurry, Shelby, Sherman, Smith, Somerville, Stonewall, Taylor, Terrell, Terry, Travis, Tyler, Upton, Val Verde, Waller, Wichita Falls, Wilson, Winkler, Wise, Yoakum and Young.

Here's the chart I created. The last column shows some notes I made - similar names, past names, ghost towns (G), etc. A dash (-) means I didn't find a community with a really close name. The first two columns could be confusing because I started with the list of 254 counties (first column) and then changed them as necessary to the community names. So you'll see Baylor in the first column and a dash in the second column meaning I didn't find a community with that name but we do have Baylor University so you should check that area. Some communities show two counties (Harris/Galveston) meaning they're located on the county line.

One last note - don't forget that Texas has been under the control of a few other countries. Some of our towns were named by/for French folks or by/for Spanish or Mexican folks. To make it even more complicated, we have a HUGE population of German- and Czech-descended folks. Sometimes it pays to call a local library and ask how to pronounce the name of a community. Once you know how to pronounce it correctly, you might find a different spelling; like Boerne (Bur nee) or Mexia (Muh hay uh).
Community County Notes Community County Notes
Anderson Grimes Kaufman Kaufman
Andrews Andrews Kendall -
Angelina - (G) Kenedy Karnes
(Port) Aransas Nueces Kent Culberson
Archer City Archer Kerr - Kerrville
Armstrong Kenedy Kimble -
Atascosa Bexar King Coryell Kingsville
Austin Travis Kinney - McKinney
Bailey Fannin Kleberg - (G) Dallas
Bandera Bandera Knox City Knox
Bastrop Bastrop La Salle Jackson
Baylor - Baylor University Lamar Aransas
Bee - Bee Cave, Beeville Lamb -
Bell[s] Grayson Lampasas Lampasas
Bexar Bexar (Port) Lavaca Calhoun
Blanco Blanco Lee Freestone Robert Lee
Borden Colorado (de) Leon Comanche Leon Valley (city)
Bosque - (San) Leon Galveston
Bowie Montague Liberty Liberty Liberty Hill
Brazoria Brazoria Limestone -
Brazos Palo Pinto Lipscomb Lipscomb
Brewster - Live Oak Bexar
Briscoe Wheeler Llano Llano
Brooks Bexar Brooks Airfield Loving Young
Brown - Brownwood, Brownsville Lubbock Lubbock
Burleson Johnson/Tarrant Lynn -
Burnet Burnet Madison - Madisonville
Caldwell Burleson Marion Guadalupe
Calhoun - (G) Martin - (G)
Callahan City - (G) Mason Mason
Cameron Milam Matagorda Matagorda Matagorda Island
Camp - Maverick Runnels
Carson Fannin McCulloch -
Cass Cass McLennan -
Castro - Castroville McMullen -
Chambers - Medina Bandera
Cherokee San Saba Menard Menard
Childress Childress Midland Midland
Clay Burleson Milam Sabine
Cochran Austin Mills - Valley Mills, Village Mills
Coke Wood Mitchell -
Coleman Coleman Montague Montague
Collin Collin Montgomery Montgomery
Collingsworth - Moore Frio
Colorado City Mitchell Morris -
Comal - Motley -
Comanche Comanche Nacogdoches Nacogdoches
Concho Concho Navarro Navarro
Cooke - Newton Newton
Coryell Coryell Nolan Nolan Nolanville
Cottle - (G) Nueces -
Crane Crane Ochiltree Ochiltree
Crockett Houston Oldham Dallas
Crosby Harris Orange Orange
Culberson - Palo Pinto Palo Pinto
Dallam - (G) Panola Panola
Dallas Dallas Parker Collin
Dawson Navarro Parmer -
Deaf Smith - Pecos Reeves
Delta - Polk -
Denton Denton Potter -
DeWitt - Presidio Presidio
Dickens Dickens Rains -
Dimmit Castro Randall -
Donley - Reagan Falls
Duval - (G) Real -
Eastland Eastland Red River - (G)
Ector Fannin Reeves -
Edwards - Edwards Plateau Refugio Refugio
El Paso El Paso Roberts - (G)
Ellis - Robertson Crosby
Erath McLennan Rockwall Rockwall
Falls City Karnes Runnels City - (G)
Fannin Goliad Rusk Cherokee
Fayette - Fayetteville Sabine Jefferson Sabine Pass
Fisher Dallas Fischer San Augustine San Augustine
Floyd Hunt San Jacinto - Jacinto City
Foard City - (G) San Patricio Nueces/San Patricio
Fort Bend - (G) (a fort) San Saba San Saba
Franklin Robertson Schleicher -
Freestone Freestone Scurry Kaufman
Frio Town - (G) Shackelford -
Gaines - Gainesville Shelby Austin
Galveston Galveston Sherman Grayson
Garza Denton Lake Dallas Smith Wood Smithville
Gillespie - Somervell - Somerville
Glasscock - Starr -
Goliad Goliad Stephens - Stephenville
Gonzales Gonzales Sterling City Sterling
Gray Marion Stonewall Gillespie
Grayson - Sutton - (G)
Gregg Travis Swisher -
Grimes - Tarrant - (G)
Guadalupe Victoria Taylor Williamson
Hale City - Hale Center Terrell Kaufman
Hall San Saba Terry Orange
Hamilton Hamilton Throckmorton Throckmorton
Hansford - (G) Titus -
Hardeman - Tom Green - Greenville, Gruene
Hardin Liberty Travis Falls
Harris - Trinity Trinity
Harrison McLennan Tyler Smith
Hartley Hartley Upshur -
Haskell Haskell Upton Bastrop
Hays Hays Uvalde Uvalde
Hemphill Sabine Hempstead Val Verde Milam
Henderson Rusk Van Zandt - Van
Hidalgo Hidalgo Victoria Victoria
Hill City Hood Walker -
Hockley Harris Waller Waller/Harris
Hood Cooke Fort Hood (La) Ward Jackson
Hopkins - Washington Washington Washington-on-the-Brazos
Houston Harris Webb Webb
Howard Ellis Wharton Wharton
Hudspeth - Wheeler Wheeler
Hunt Kerr Huntsville Wichita Falls Wichita
Hutchinson - Hutchins Wilbarger -
Irion - Willacy - Willis
Jack - Jacksboro, Jacksonville Williamson - Williams Ranch, Williams Park, William Penn
(Lake) Jackson Brazoria Wilson Lynn
Jasper Jasper Winkler Navarro/Freestone
Jeff Davis - Fort Davis, Davis, Davistown, Davis Switch Wise Van Zandt
Jefferson Marion Wood City - (G) Woodville, Camp Wood
Jim Hogg - Hogg Yoakum Lavaca/De Witt Joaquin
Jim Wells - Wells Young Freestone
Johnson City Blanco Zapata Zapata
Jones City Jones Anson, Jones Creek Zavalla Zavala
Karnes Karnes