You may drive down Highway 90 in Southeast Texas, and see the small town of Nome, Texas. From the outskirts, Nome may seem like a sleepy, little town. But if you turn North or South, you’ll find lots of gems. Gems like delicious, restaurant-quality crawfish and fresh cut Christmas trees. Nome is a place where rice is grown, lawn grass is cultivated, and cattle are raised. Nome is where kids flock to play basketball in an endearing, old-fashioned gym. But did you know that in the early 1860s, Nome was just a stop on the Texas and New Orleans Railroad? Nome was called Congreve Station. Many famous people, including Governor of Texas, Sam Houston would ride the train to Congreve Station on their way to a nearby health resort. In 1901, oil was discovered in Beaumont, Texas (about 20 miles from Nome), and droves of people came to the area, wanting to strike it rich. By 1903, there were enough people living around Congreve Station to give it an actual town name. The oil boom reminded people of what they had heard about the Nome, Alaska gold strikes. So, Nome, Texas was born! In those days, rice was still the main commodity, but by 1936, the residents had a new focus: mining, refining and distributing oil. Today, visitors come to Nome and still see lots of rice fields. Many of the residents still work in the oil industry. Now, people also come to visit Broussards Crawfish Farm to pick up a sack of freshly caught crawfish. They come at Christmas time to Beavers’ Christmas Tree Farm to pick up a freshly cut tree. People travel to Nome to see where sod is cultivated for the Doguet Turf Farm. Kids come to Nome to play at the Nome City Park and their parents gather in the Nome Gym to cheer on their team.