Happy reigns as voters’ favorite unusual Texas town name

​​COLLEGE STATION – Hey, everyone, here’s the song that we’re singing: C’mon, get Happy!

To say that voters in the Real Estate Center’s summer-long online poll, "Small Towns, Great Names," got Happy would be an understatement. The Panhandle city ​with a population of roughly 680 swept round four of our contest, garnering 51 percent of the 437 votes.

Cut and Shoot came in a distant second with 30 percent of the votes, followed by Dime Box with 19 percent.

To celebrate Happy’s victory, here are a few facts about "The Town Without a Frown" (taken from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American FactFinder website and Wikipedia):

• Median age is 37.6.
• Median income is $40,469.
• The town has a total area of 1.1 square miles.
• Late "rockabilly" musician Buddy Knox hailed from Happy.
• It’s home to the Happy High School Cowboys.
• The 1999 comedy film Happy, Texas was set in the town, but shot primarily in California.

The Center’s contest, intended as a fun way of drawing attention to the state’s rich legacy of interesting small-town names, began in mid June with a list of over 120 names. That number was pared down to 20 for the second round, ten for the third, and three for the final.

Round-one voter numbers were modest (321), but word of mouth through social media, as well as attention from several radio stations, boosted numbers during the second round (545). ​