Welcome to the 50th Anniversary issue of Texas Highways. It’s a culmination not only of the planning our team has done for the past 18 months but also 50 years of diligent work by former editors, photographers, designers, writers, fact-checkers, and a host of business and administrative support staff. We are honored to continue a legacy of inspiring travel through stories and images that reveal Texas’ distinct character, wild beauty, and inimitable culture.
As you’ve probably noticed, this issue looks and feels different. As part of our anniversary celebration, we’ve upgraded our paper to a heavier, more durable stock that will also look better on your coffee table. Our longtime readers may notice the new Texas Highways logo is reminiscent of its 1970s iteration. Inside, the visual refresh includes a new design and a reorganization and revamping of our content. You’ll now find practical travel guidance—what to book now, where to stay, and what to see on the way—compiled in our new Roadmap section. Meanwhile, our narrative essays, history stories, and interviews are grouped within a section called Postcards.
The stories in this issue are in many ways love letters to Texas—to the charm of the tiny communities that make up our annual list of Small Towns to Visit Now, the spare beauty of Red River Valley landscapes, and the football culture that birthed Odessa’s iconic high school rivalry. For the latter, senior writer Ian Dille attended a once-in-a-decade game that underscores the enduring allure of high school football in the state.
This milestone issue is also our largest ever at 160 pages, thanks in no small part to our advertisers in the tourism industry who have helped sustain our brand since advertising was introduced in our pages in 2002. Our sincerest gratitude goes to you, our readers, for your unwavering enthusiasm for the magazine and authentically Texas stories. We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed making it. Let us know what you think and what you’d like to see us cover in the next half-century at [email protected].
Emily Roberts Stone
Editor in Chief
