Travel & Outdoors | 22 May 20173 Famous People with Texas Roots Share article facebook twitter google pinterest You’ll be met with a rich history almost anywhere you go in Texas. Some of that history is connected to people you might not have thought would have roots in the Lone Star State. Below are three celebrities and the Texas cities they are connected to from Backroads of Texas. Georgia O’Keeffe On your way out of Palo Duro Canyon, take a side trip into the town of Canyon. It’s where famed artist Georgia O’Keeffe lived from 1916 to 1918 while creating a series of watercolor paintings she called “Light Coming on the Plains,” now in the permanent collection at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth. O’Keeffe also taught art at West Texas State Normal College, now West Texas A&M University. On the campus of the university, you’ll find the Panhandle-Plains Museum in an art-deco building of the era of the Great Depression. Notice that more than seventy brands from local ranches are carved in stone above the doorway. On the sides of the main entrance are reliefs depicting historic scenes carved in the building blocks. Look up and see stone heads of jackrabbits and other local animals that resemble gargoyles. The interior of the museum is impressive and well worth the time to visit. Janis Joplin The 1960s blues and rock singer Janis Joplin (1943–1970) was born and raised in Port Arthur in a middle-class family. A major tourist attraction is the Joplin area on the second floor of the Museum of the Gulf Coast at 700 Procter. An exhibit displays her artwork, music, and a replica of her painted Porsche. Despite her tumultuous and tragic life, she has often been hailed as “the best white blues singer in American musical history.” She was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. Lyndon Johnson Robert Caro’s book Means of Ascent, the second volume in his landmark and meticulously researched biography of the thirty-sixth president, Lyndon Johnson, confirms fraudulent ballot boxes in the senate primary election of 1948 and also confirms such practices were common in the 1940s. Caro argues that Johnson took voting fraud to extremes in 1948. Other historians agree that fraudulent voting tactics were common in Texas at the time but were actually rigged to benefit mostly local office seekers such as county commissioners and county sheriffs and only incidentally benefitted national office seekers such as Lyndon Johnson. Buy from an Online Retailer US: UK: Veer off the interstate and explore strange, sublime, and breathtaking sights. It’s all available on the backroads of Texas.Texas is the second largest state in the United States, and you can be sure it’s home to plenty of incredible sights waiting just off the beaten path. Backroads of Texas guides readers off the main drag where they can find intriguing sites, offbeat characters, and glorious landscapes. These are the sights normally missed by interstate-centric travelers. The book includes thirty backroad drives and excursions that take travelers into the boondocks where all the craziest natural sights occur. Watch frenzied bats as they fly by the thousands from San Angelo’s Foster Road Bridge. Catch your breath as you drink in the majestic Guadalupe Mountains. Get ready for goosebumps when you spelunk into the shadowy depths of Inner Space Cavern, and try not to get spooked when you see the paranormal “ghost lights” near the eclectic town of Marfa. These off-road sights are what truly set the Lone Star State apart from its neighbors. Completely reimagined for a new generation of road-trip takers and explorers, Backroads of Texas is lavishly illustrated with photographs, maps, and vintage advertising of Texas’s many scenic, historic, and cultural attractions. You think you know what Texas looks like? Think again. Backroads of Texas has something to surprise and excite everyone. Share article facebook twitter google pinterest If you have any comments on this article please contact us or get in touch via social media.