Legend has it that rancher Samuel Burk Burnett won the ranch in a high stakes poker game and that another player, out of money, had bet his ranch on his poker hand, only to lose to Burk Burnett’s hand of four sixes. It makes a great story, right? Burnett denied the story more than once. Nevertheless, the legend has endured and 6666 has been the ranch brand. The capital L is for Loyd, the name of Burnett’s first wife and her family.
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Wise County, Texas
Wise County is located in North Texas. While most counties are named for people with a more direct connection to the history of Texas, Wise County is named for Virginia Governor Henry Wise. The county was carved out of nearby Cooke County in 1856.
J. Riely Gordon, architect
James Riely Gordon was a practicing architect during what has been called the Golden Age of Texas Courthouses, the 1880s and 1890s. By then, almost all of the 254 Texas counties now in existence had been established. The Texas legislature allowed counties to issue bonds for courthouse construction and many counties did, leading to construction projects all over the state.
Pictured: Ellis County Courthouse in Waxahachie (2015)
The Waco Suspension Bridge
One of the most famous landmarks in Central Texas is the Waco Suspension Bridge in McLennan County. Waco was founded on the banks of the Brazos River just below where it is joined by the Bosque River. For years, the only crossing nearby was Shapley Ross’ ferry that connected what is now East Waco, connecting with the road extending to Dallas, to downtown Waco at the extension of Austin Avenue to the river, connecting a main route to Marlin.
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Texas History Notebook 