Learn the Proper Pronunciation of 28 Funny Sounding Texas Town Names
If you look closely at the history of Texas, you'll notice that our state was settled by people from a couple parts of the world. Obviously Mexico is one of those but also there is a heavy German influence in our state, especially around the central part of Texas. That cultural diversity has led to some unusual sounding town names with some having weird spellings, looking at you Pflugerville, Texas. Even in East Texas, we have a couple of towns that could be commonly mispronounced like Palestine and Nacogdoches. For this write up, I'll be looking at 28 Texas towns and how to properly pronounce their name.
Pronouncing Some Texas Towns or Landmarks
If you're visiting Texas this year, or new to the state, you have probably run across some city names on the map that you're having trouble pronouncing. Don't fret, even some native Texans have a hard time with them. I am here to help. For this I only look at Texas towns. There are a couple of counties, a popular dance hall and some other areas that will leave some folks tongue twisted but I'm not counting those in this list.
Bexar County, Texas
Bexar County, Texas is in South-Central Texas with San Antonio as it's county seat. The county was created in 1836 and covered the western portion of the Republic of Texas. The Bexar comes from San Antonio de Bexar which was one of the first civil governments put in place by the Spanish. When you see Bexar County on a map, you will want to say it as Bex-air. But no, its pronounced Bear.
Gruene Hall
In New Braunfels, Texas, you will find Gruene Hall. This dance hall is Texas' oldest such establishment and has had major music acts grace it's stage over the years it's been open. The 6,000 square foot dance hall was built in 1878 and has remained relatively unchanged since then. Gruene Hall has been in movies, used as a background for album cover art and has had major music acts like ZZ Top and George Strait perform there. Oh, and it's pronounced Green Hall.
So yes, there are more than just towns in Texas that have weird sounding names. So let's look at the 28 Most Commonly Mispronounced Texas Town Names below: