How Many of These Texas City Nicknames Do You Know?

Let us know your favorite Texas city nickname on Facebook or Twitter.

By W.F. Strong & Emily DonahueJuly 29, 2015 10:01 am

Huntsville’s nickname is “Prison City” and sometimes, “Execution Capital of the World.”  You won’t find it on the Chamber of Commerce marquis, but it is a well-known moniker for the town.

Alpine calls itself the “Gateway to Big Bend.” Athens is the “Black-eyed Pea Capital.”  I bet they do some good business New Year’s Day.

Austin is “Bat City,” or “Hippie Haven,” but more recently Austin’s motto has been “Keep Austin Weird.”

Denton is known as “Little Austin.” It is the birthplace of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and therefore respectably weird itself.

Pecos is the site of “World’s First Rodeo,” but Mesquite is the “Rodeo Capital of Texas,”.  Bandera is the “Cowboy Capital of Texas”. Fort Worth is “Cow Town.” Strange that the cowboys and the cows are 300 miles apart. Fort Worth is also known as “Funky Town,” and shares with Dallas the title of “The Metroplex.”

Midland and Odessa share “The Petroplex” as their nickname. Odessa is also known as the “Jackrabbit Roping Capital” – that must be a lot like herding cats.

For sheer business macho you can’t beat Midlothian: “The Cement and Steel Capital of Texas.” As a counterbalance, we have Happy, Texas, “The Town Without A Frown.”

Marfa has been “Leaving the Lights on For You for 120 Years.” Brady is the “True Heart of Texas” because it is in the geographical middle. Eagle Pass on the border is where “Yee-Ha meets Ole.” And Fort Davis is “Where the Stars Come Out to Play.”

Corpus Christi is the “Sparkling City by the Sea” and Brownsville is “On the Border by the Sea.”

Burnet and Llano share the title of “Bluebonnet Capital of Texas.” But Burnet’s other slogan is far more memorable.“It’s Burnet, Durnet, Can’t you Learn it?”

Mexia, sometimes mistakenly called Mex ee-ah, is gentler with the pronunciation challenged.  They say, “Mexia is a great place no matter how you pronounce it.”

Commerce is the “Bois d’Arc Capital of Texas” – named for the osage orange around there.

We have several towns that claim to be the “Watermelon Capital of Texas.” Naples, Weatherford, Dilley. But Dilley is the only one with a watermelon monument so we’ll give it the win.

Knox City is the “Seedless Watermelon Capital of Texas.” Probably much cleaner sidewalks there.

McCarney is the “Wind Energy Capital of Texas.” Might better go to Austin when the Legislature is in session.

We have the food capitals: Lockhart for barbecue, Terlingua for chili, and Friona is the cheeseburger capital. Corsicana is the “Fruitcake Capital.”

And after all the food you may want to go to Hereford, “The Town without a Toothache.”

El Paso is “Sun City” or “El Chuco.” Waco is the “Buckle of the Bible Belt.” Smithville is the “Heart of the Megalopolis, quite a big name for a town of 3,000.

Nacogdoches bills itself as the “Oldest Town in Texas,” but so does San Augustine.

Galveston is “Oleander City,” Tyler is the “Rose Capital of the World,” Georgetown the “Red Poppy Capital,” but San Angelo is the “End of the Rainbow.”

I think I’d like to go there. Sounds beautiful, and peaceful.