20 Historical Landmarks Every Texas Should Visit At Least Once

1501 Post Office St, Galveston, (409) 763-5928

Distance from San Antonio: 3 hours 54 min

With Greek Revival style architecture going back as far as the 1850s, Galveston's East End Historical District has over 50 blocks of elaborate mansions and gorgeous painted cottages. Take a guided tour of the area or walk through yourself, and check out some of the local shops and restaurants if you're overdosed on architecture.

Photo via Instagram, @moxie_ladies

100 Park Road 1A, Bastrop, (512) 321-2101

Distance from San Antonio:1 hour 41 min

It's not just another state park, it's one of less than 50 National Historic Landmarks in Texas. Home to the endangered Houston Toad and still bouncing back from a devastating 2012 fire, Bastrop State Park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the early 1930s. All of the park's structures were made with native stone and wood, with stone cabins that look like Hobbit holes and beautiful rocky picnic spots.

Photo via Instagram, @philipkglassdick

199 Park Road 52, Stonewall, (830) 868-7128

Distance from San Antonio: 1 hour 22 min

Visit the home that birthed the Texas legend restored and furnished to its 1920s glory and managed by the National park Service itself. Take a tour with park rangers to hear some stories from his youth and learn more about the humble beginnings.

Photo via Flickr, cherrybream

5550 Jimmy Simmons Blvd., Beaumont, (409) 880-1750

Distance from San Antonio: 3 hours 58 min

Spindletop was home to Lucas Gusher in its heyday, the oil well that started the Texas Oil Boom and moved Texas and the rest of the United States into a state of rapid economic development. Since closed and designated a National Historic Landmark, the Spindletop oil field lives on through Lamar University's museum dedicated to the black gold frenzy, and the Lucas Gusher reenactment with water for those wanting to live out their There Will Be Blood fantasies.

Photo via Instagram, spindletopmuseum

2205 TX-141, Kingsville, (361) 592-8055

Distance from San Antonio: 2 hours 11 min

It's bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island, has its own line of trucks and makes its own luggage that's celebrated by country-bougie Texans everywhere. The grounds offer nature tours, grounds tour, design-it-yourself personal tours, a museum, saddle shop and everything else your Lone Star heart could want from this Historic Landmark.

Photo via Instagram, kingranchinc

101 Lt Henry Flipper Drive, Fort Davis, (432) 426-3224

Distance from San Antonio: 5 hours 39 min from San Antonio

Fort Davis served as a frontier post during the Indians' Wars in the mid- to late 1800s, to protect coaches and emigrants on the trail through the American Southwest. With five standing buildings and over ruins, you can get yourself up to speed at the museum and visitor center and saunter around the grounds like a regular Clint Eastwood.

Photo via Instagram, trav1167

77 Convent Ave., Roma, (210) 849-0099

Distance from San Antonio: 3 hours 31 min

This National Historic Landmark features prominently the building style of the Lower Rio Grande exemplified by Heinrich Portscheller. Right along the Mexico border, Roma has an old convent, and several former stores and houses for your appreciation, as well as a visitor's center to explain the significance of the ghostly-empty edifices.

Photo via Instagram, elchikislard

77 Convent Ave., Roma, (210) 849-0099

Distance from San Antonio: 6 hours 55 min

Another Texas landmark with roads, picnic sites and structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, Palo Duro Canyon breaks up the flat landscape of the Panhandle with beautiful vistas. The state park is also a Texas historic landmark and the site of the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon during the Red River War, a conflict against Native Americans.

Photo via Instagram, tonylafontaine

411 Elm Street, Dallas, (214) 747-6660

Distance from San Antonio: 4 hours 35 min

A designated National Historic Landmark, the site of an iconic Erykah Badu music video, and a meeting place for decades of political activism, Dealey Plaza has been preserved as a memorial of JFK. The Sixth Floor Museum has both permanent and temporary exhibitions honoring the assassinated president, as well as a gift shop if you want to memorialize him monetarily.

Photo via Instagram, yulia_krapiva

2401 Landmark Dr, Lubbock, (806) 742-1116

Distance from San Antonio: 5 hours 57 min

Managed by volunteers and Texas Tech University, Lubbock Lake is one of the most important archaeological sites in the state that was inhabited by prehistoric people over 10,000 years ago. Visitors can attend tours, watch active archaeological digs and even volunteer to participate.

Photo via Instagram, coffeeinmyveins