made in texas

Class Up Your Look in a Peter Brothers Custom Hat that Brims with History

February 28, 2019 | By Matt Joyce

Willie Dedmon calls himself a walking billboard for Peters Brothers Hats, the historic Fort Worth haberdashery. His collection numbers around 60, with headwear stored in various closets around the house and under his bed. Every day, the 65-year-old retiree dons a hat that fits his mood and attire before making his rounds about town.

Treat Yourself With a Desert Cure That Smells Like a West Texas Rainstorm

January 30, 2019 | By Melissa Gaskill

Deep in the heart of a ranch sprawling across the foothills of the Chinati Mountains, a stand of dark-green creosote bushes contrasts with the rocky landscape. The August weather is hot and dry, but these plants have some secret source of water. Candace Covington discovered them several years ago while helping with one of several archaeological digs on the ranch.

These 10 County Courthouses Show off the Beauty and History of Small-Town Texas

September 10, 2018 | By

Texas’ Historic County Courthouses shine with grandiosity and ambition. Often politically controversial because of their expense, courthouse projects in the 19th and early 20th centuries lasted years as counties selected architects and builders, quarried and imported materials, then painstakingly assembled the larger-than-life landmarks in the middle of town. It’s not hard to imagine a farmer stopping by a courthouse construction site to take in the scene, scratching his head at the columns, parapets, and towers rising from the prairie.

It’s art in the making at Gruene’s Texas Clay Fest

September 18, 2017 | By Larry D. Hodge

Randy Brodnax gingerly lifts a pot from the glowing kiln interior and places it on a small turntable, rotating it slowly while misting it with water from a spray bottle.

The National Cowboy Symposium and Celebration in Lubbock

August 8, 2017 | By by Melissa Corbin

As a Tennessee native who married a Texan, I’ve long been fascinated with the difference between the two states’ geography and culture—especially when it comes to the romantic ideal of the cowboy in the Texas Panhandle.

Trabajo Rústico

March 20, 2017 | By Gene Fowler

Dionicio Rodriguez’s cement sculptures look so much like tree trunks and branches, they even fool wily woodpeckers.

The Art (and Fun) of Stacking Rocks

February 7, 2017 | By Beverly Burmeier

Michael Grab wades into the waist-high water of the Llano River in Central Texas, reaches down to the bottom, and fishes out a platter-size rock.

Uncovering an Urban Relic

December 16, 2016 | By Jennifer Babisak

I’m huddled with a half-dozen strangers in Houston, shouting into the darkness. The echo, which turns our calls into an eerie, multi-tonal melody of high-pitched peaks and low moans, stretches for 17 seconds.

A Painter’s Plantings

August 1, 2016 | By Celestina Blok

Painter Douglas Chandor was as charming as he was creative. I’m standing in the foyer of the prestigious artist’s historic Weatherford home, a 5,600-square-foot dwelling adorned with his sketches, prints, and original works.

With a Butter Knife and a Ball-Peen Hammer

July 18, 2016 | By Michael Corcoran

The neighborhood kids called Felix Harris “the Voodoo Man” because his front yard was full of eerie poles he brought to life using broken and discarded objects.

Pioneers of Posh

June 20, 2016 | By Anthony Head

It’s safe to say that an elegant, 19th-Century mansion was not what I was expecting to see as I drove down a breezy bay-front road in Rockport.

Keeper of the Flame

May 11, 2016 | By Michael Corcoran

In the 1960s at his Soho building in New York City, “minimalism” icon Donald Judd would take his phone off the hook and park his elevator on the second floor to avoid the agents, the media, and the young artists who saw him as a mentor.

Ship Sharp

April 15, 2016 | By Heather Brand

A long the Texas Gulf Coast, a series of decommissioned ships navigate the nation’s maritime history.

Bespoke Buckles

March 21, 2016 | By Sallie Lewis

For Clint Orms, belt buckles are more than just accessories. The silversmith sees them as a vestige of Western tradition—tools to be used and enjoyed, and then passed along as family heirlooms.

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