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 |