Big Sky National Monument - Stonewall, TX

Lyndon Johnson is not a president often associated with the Antiquities Act. In his term, he enlarged four existing national monuments and established another two, most of which he did only at the behest of others. The exception to this is Big Sky National Monument. Set close to his ranch in Stonewall,Texas, Lyndon used to load VIPs into the back of his Lincoln Continental and go careening across the open prairies that would one day become the monument. He’s quoted saying that he loved seeing the faces of those unfamiliar with the Texas sky, crushed under the weight of it. And admittedly, there is something magical about the skies over the Lone Star State, something countless have commented upon. It’s in every song and story the state has to offer, the wide panorama of open sky that ensures storms can never sneak up on you, that teaches you from an early age how small you are in the world. It’s only fitting that a state obsessed with size would be blanketed by an equally big sky. Previ

Fort Banco


Fort Banco holds the record for being the longest concurrently used building in Texas. It had its start as a small mission built by the Spanish in 1633, and in its long history it has been used as a fort, a saloon, a boarding house, a convent, a general store, a plantation, a bank, a diner, a watch repair shop, a jail, a church, an apartment complex, and, most recently, a gas station. To say that this building holds historic preservation status is an understatement.

Its strange design is testament to the practicality and utilitarianism of its many owners who, rather than wantonly demolishing and replacing the building, found ways to make the pre-existing structures work to fit their needs, adding to the overall structure only when necessary. Among the building’s most striking improvements are its stone front, added as security and decoration when the building served as a bank, and the wooden balustrades and defenses added by the U.S. calvary while the building served as a fort during the Civil War.

Today, road-weary visitors can stop in to fill their bellies and gas tanks, and tour the historic displays detailing the site’s many uses. Before you head out, don’t forget to try the fort’s famous lemon ice which is based on a recipe that dates back to the structure’s time as a convent.


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