Places to Explore

• Beaumont and Port Arthur

  An industrial duo of cities located just inland from the Gulf of Mexico on the deepwater Neches River, Beaumont and Port Arthur have been key to the Texas oil industry since the Spindletop Well began gushing... (more)

• Bryan-College Station

  Welcome to Aggieland! As you drive into Bryan-College Station, you'll notice a marked increase in the number of maroon shirts, hats, signs—even cars—bearing the ATM logo (with the hat of the... (more)

• Huntsville

  Huntsville is proud of Sam Houston—more so than the metropolis just over an hour to the south that bears his name! A 67-foot-tall statue of Houston looms over Interstate 45 south of the town center... (more)

• Jefferson

  Jefferson is a charming small town with a unique claim to history: from the 1840s to the 1870s it was Texas's northernmost deep-water port. Steamboats crowded the waterfront, loading up the vast Texas... (more)

• Marshall

  More than perhaps any other town in East Texas, Marshall was a creation of the railroad. Strategically situated between Dallas and Shreveport, the town was an ideal base in the late 1800s for the Texas... (more)

• Nacogdoches

  The historic heart of East Texas, Nacogdoches was the cradle for the idea of Texas's being its own nation. Three unsuccessful campaigns for Texas independence originated here, and the town played a significant... (more)

• Shreveport, Louisiana

  An industrial city reborn as a gambling hot spot, Shreveport stretches out from the banks of the Red River, and feels less like Louisiana and more like the easternmost town in Texas: the rolling plains... (more)

• Texarkana

  With two separate cities divided by the Texas-Arkansas border and sharing the same downtown, Texarkana's location has long been its main attraction. Both H. Ross Perot and Scott Joplin hailed from the... (more)

• Tyler

  The commercial and cultural center for East Texas, Tyler has seen a population boom in recent years. Retirees and second-home owners are moving into town, prompting new housing to sprout up in former cotton... (more)