One Texas Town Honored as the Best Historic Small Town in America

To paraphrase Marty Robbins, Outside the West Texas town of El Paso, TX,  America fell in love with a tiny historic community... That wasn't as smooth as I imagined it would be in my head, but it rings true regardless.

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Earlier this year, USA Today's Readers' Choice Awards recognized the “Best Historic Small Town in America” and the list spreads across the U.S.

No. 10: Port Gamble, Washington

"Port Gamble was once a thriving mill town, built on the banks of the Kitsap Peninsula in 1853."

No. 9: Mackinac Island, Michigan

"One of the last car-free destinations in the U.S."

No. 8: Yorktown, Virginia

"Revolutionary War buffs flock to Yorktown, the spot where that war was effectively won by Washington and his colonial troops."

No. 7: Williamsburg, Virginia

"Originally the capital of Virginia (the largest state at that time) from 1699-1780."

No. 6: Wickenburg, Arizona

"A gold mine started things off here in 1863, and today, you can still see houses and stores built back then."

No. 5: Cody, Wyoming

"This picturesque town near Yellowstone was founded by its namesake, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody in the 1890s."

No. 4: Wallace, Idaho

"Once a booming “silver city,” a fire destroyed the town in 1890, but the miners rebuilt it with brick buildings that still stand today."

No. 3: Wickford, Rhode Island

"Europeans first settled this Rhode Island community around 1637."

No. 2: Abilene, Kansas

"Abilene is the hometown of Dwight D. Eisenhower, a five-star General of the Army and 34th President of the United States."

No. 1: San Elizario, Texas

The tiny town which resides in El Paso County, had a population 13,603 as of 2010. It's a part of the El Paso metro, and can be found on the Rio Grande, the river which of course forms the border between the United States and Mexico.

So what do USA Today's Readers love about the town?

"The roots of this small Texas community go back hundreds of years, beginning with a Spanish settlement and military base. San Elizario chose to maintain its historic integrity rather than move forward as the railroad became a more prominent means of transportation in the late 1800s."

You can read more about each of these historic communities right here.