Here's a story Texans have been telling for generations. There is a county over in East Texas that, so the tale goes, once got so fed up that it tried to secede, not from the United States, but from the great state of Texas itself. They called it, proudly, the Free State of Van Zandt.
The nickname went all the way back to the county's earliest days. When Van Zandt County was carved out of its neighbor, the story goes that it came away owing no debts at all, a "free" and debt-free little territory, and resentful folks next door took to calling it a free state. The people of Van Zandt County rather liked the sound of that, and the name stuck fast.
Then came the great arguments over secession. As the legend has been handed down, the independent-minded folks of the county reasoned that if Texas could up and leave the Union, then surely little Van Zandt County could up and leave Texas. They say the county held a convention, declared its own independence, and a handful of determined men even grabbed their guns and dug in at the edge of town, ready to defend their tiny free state.
Now, how much of that is history and how much is tall tale? Well, that has been argued over for a century and more, and that is part of what makes it such a wonderful Texas story. But the folks of Van Zandt County have never once let it go, and to this day they will tell you, with a proud grin, all about the time their little corner of East Texas up and declared itself the Free State of Van Zandt. 🐐
#texashistory #vanzandtcounty #freestateofvanzandt