Celebrating Texas
Honoring the Past • Building the Future

Distributed by McDougal Littell, a Houghton Mifflin Company

Celebrating Texas Online Resources

We have collected a wide range of online Texas resources for your use. We have assemble and catalogued a wealth of great online resources for students and teachers. Follow the links below to begin your journey.

Resources by Chapter

Resources by Type

General Resources

Online TAKS Diagnostic and Practice Tests

On this Date in Texas History From the Handbook of Texas Online

General Reference Guides

About Texas, a general guide to online resources on Texas government, economics, history, laws, symbols, and more from the Texas State Library and Archives
Texas Trivia and Fun Facts, information and resources on Texas history, government, flags, archeology, place-names, natural wonders, courthouses, post office murals, and more from the Texas Historical Commission

Archeology

Texas Beyond History, with extensive information, photos and maps on Texas archeological sites and important findings at each site, lesson plans, and a kids' page. Includes pages on the excavations of the Belle and Fort St. Louis.

Culture

Texans One and All from the Institute of Texan cultures, with information, photos, and audio files on Texas cultures
Handbook of Texas Online, offering excellent articles on Texas peoples (Enter a search term such as "Chinese" or "Scots" into the search box)
Immigration to Texas, an overview of early immigrant groups with maps showing where each group settled, from Lone Star Genealogy
Texas Culture, descriptions of the cultures of Texas and cultural events from TravelTex, the official state tourism site
Texas cultural celebrations, information and links
Texas immigrant groups, information and links
Texas Indians, an excellent site with many articles, artwork, and resources on Native Texans
links to resources on Texas Indians from El Centro College History Department

Current Events

Texas newspapers around the state

Education

Texas Colleges and Universities enrollment figures
Web sites for Texas colleges and universities from The University of Texas
Texas school districts

Economy and Industry

Texas's Business and Industry Data Center
Southwest Economy, a quarterly publication of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, with updates on the Texas economy
high-tech industries in Texas, information and links

Environment and Natural Resources

links to natural sciences and the environment from HISD's Armadillo server
The Texas Environment, links and lesson plans on climate change and the Texas environment
Texas Water Resources Institute, with articles on many subjects related to water
Texas Water Development Board, with information on conservation, drought monitoring, the colonias, and more
oral histories from key figures in Texas environmental conservation
Texas environmental profiles, profiles by county of water and air quality, wildlife, and other aspects of the environment

Geography

Texas regions
meteorological data on major Texas cities
general statistics on average precipitation, temperatures, and basic geography of Texas
population statistics for Texas
population of metropolitan areas
Texas temperature, freeze, growing season and precipitation records by counties
Texas wildlife
information on Texas cities, regions, cultures, and events from the official Texas tourism site (for regions, click on "Texas Map")
Texas geography resources online, links from El Centro College
Texas state parks
Texas maps, including historical maps, from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas at Austin
Texas state parks and historic sites from Texas Parks and Wildlife
School Atlas of Texas, a full color Texas atlas for students

Geology

From the Ground Up: The World of Oil, information and diagrams on the geology of oil from the Paleontological Research Institute

Government

Texas Online: Government, with links to city and county governments as well as all branches of state government and the laws of the state
Texas Legislature Online, with links to house and senate members, Texas laws, and the Texas Constitution
other helpful links on Texas government and politics
Texas court system
Texas counties online
special districts in Texas
the U.S. Constitution
Texas voter information from the Texas state government

History (General)

The Handbook of Texas Online, offering excellent, detailed articles on most topics of Texas history. Teaching tools include TEKS alignment, lesson plans, and a student guide to topics. A guide to using the Handbook for Texas history teachers is also available.
links to Texas history and social studies sites from HISD's Armadillo server
online Texas history exhibits from the Texas State Library and Archives, with photos, paintings, primary documents, and articles on Texas governors, Texas "treasures" (important Texas documents in Texas history, from the letter from the Alamo to the Constitution), African Americans in Texas after the Civil War, and the fight for women's suffrage.
Texas History and Culture, an excellent, well-organized list of links on Texas history topics from El Centro College History Department
History of the Lone Star State, a wealth of Texas history links from history teacher Tracey Oz
Texas Historic Sites Atlas from the Texas Historical Commission
Alamo de Parras, an excellent site with articles, primary source documents, maps, newspaper accounts, author interviews, a live Alamo cam, and other resources on the Alamo and the Texas Revolution
Lone Star Junction, information, biographies, and documents on Texas history up to 1900, especially the period from before independence through statehood
resources from the PBS series The West, including images, biographies, maps of cattle trails, and primary source documents, many relating to Texas history
A Shared Experience, an online book and teaching activities on the history of the Lower Rio Grande Heritage Corridor from the Texas Historical Commission
A Shared Past: Texas and the United States Since Reconstruction, history articles written by Bill Hardt, a teacher in Aldine ISD
Levi Jordan Plantation Web site, with photos, diaries, oral histories, and articles about both Anglo and African American residents of the plantation before and after the Civil War, including articles on the shift to sharecropping and tenant farming

Museums

Frontier Texas! In Abilene, Texas - an award winning museum featuring the 1780 to 1880 Texas frontier.
The Texas Association of Museums offers a search page that lets users find museum by name, kind, or region.
The Heritage Room in Hurst, Texas—Students can delve into the history of Texas and the Dallas/Fort Worth area through historical documents, photo archives, family histories, artifacts such as Bonnie and Clyde's license plate, and a wealth or rare historic books.
The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas—Students can visit the historic site and learn about the events of the battle. Plenty of images and artifacts help students visualize what the battle must have looked like. The museums web site provides a list of Alamo defenders, with links to biographical essays about them. To view a live image of the Alamo, visit the AlamoCam.
The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, Texas—Students can hear Stephen F. Austin's words from his jail cell in Mexico and see how Juan Seguín experienced the battles of the Revolution.
Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas—The park, set astride the Paluxy river, has some of the best preserved dinosaur tracks in the world. Approximately 113 million years ago, limestones, sandstones and mudstones were deposited along the shores of an ancient sea. The Paluxy river, over the last million years or so, has cut through these deposits to expose the river bottom and the ancient paths of dinosaurs. Two fiberglass models; a 70-foot Apatosaurus and a 45-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex greet visitors. The site includes links to an electronic field trip about Lone Star Dinosaurs.
Dallas Museum of Natural History in Dallas, Texas—The museum features the online exhibit, Dino World, which includes descriptions, pictures and key facts about 18 different dinosaurs.
The Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio, Texas—Students will enjoy audiovisual exhibits on 26 ethnic and cultural groups and a living history area, where historic buildings recreate the life of early Texans. In addition, the Institute offers excellent online resources for both students and teachers, including
- Texans One and All, an excellent source of information, photos, and audiotapes on Texas's many cultures
- a Digital Storytelling Tour
- Oral Histories Online
The Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, Texas—The Mexic-Arte Museum offers changing shows of Mexican, Latino, and Latin American art and culture. It also sponsors cultural exhibits, plays, and activities celebrating the Día De los Muertos (including a parade), the Noche de Fiesta Navideña (Christmas) and La Posada. The museum also offers innovative educational programs.
The Women's Museum in Dallas, Texas—Interactive exhibits and programs celebrate the achievements of women in politics, business, science, technology, literature, sports, the media, and the arts. Docent tours, scavenger hunts (including one for Texas Women), and lesson plans (including one to "Dream Your Career") are available for classes.

Politics

Cartooning Texas, online exhibit of Texas politics as viewed through Texas political cartoons from the 1890s through the 1990s
Texas political cartoons, links to current cartoons from around the state
Texas Democratic Party
Republican Party of Texas

Primary Sources

links to some Texas history primary source documents on the Internet, an excellent resource compiled by history professor Roger Griffin
Library of Congress—American Memory, primary source documents, photos, maps, and recordings from the Library of Congress (for most collections, just enter "Texas" into Search box). See particularly the the following collections:

WPA Life Histories from Texas, which include stories of the Depression, pioneer life, ranching, and experiences of African American and Hispanic Texans
Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991, including early photos of Texas cities, oilfields, flappers, World War I aviation fields, cotton fields, and more
History of the American West, 1860-1920, offering early photos of Native Americans and of life on the range from the Collection of the Denver Public Library
The South Texas Border, 1900-1920: Photographs from the Robert Runyon Collection, including photographs of the Mexican Revolution
Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945, photos by Dorothea Lange and other major American photographers, including many photos of the Depression, the Dust Bowl, and sharecroppers in Texas

early photos from the Western History Archives, University of Oklahoma
Digital Storytelling Tour and Oral Histories Online from the Institute of Texan Cultures
Texas—From Independence through Annexation, primary source documents from the Avalon Project at Yale Law School

Teacher Resources

lesson plans on various topics from the Houston Teachers Institute, including immigration, citizenship, and Latino history and culture
lesson plans and education kits from the Texas Department of Transportation on transportation, the environment, and Texas history

Transportation

Consult your teacher or librarian for username and password.