WHITEHOUSE, Texas _ Once Main Street was widened to four lanes, Whitehouse no longer looked like a charming, touristy, small Texas town, but it lives and breathes like something out of 1950s Americana.
With a population of 7,600, Whitehouse is the little town America romanticizes.
What you'll find is a nice bedroom community, with a modest number of stores and commerce.
The schools are immaculate. The high school field is in good shape. The high school gym looks like something out of a NCAA Division II program. The homes are modest and inviting. It's all quaint, clean and safe, with an unrelenting hint of unexciting. Any East Texas parent would love to raise a child here.
However, at the moment, it's dressed up more like a suburb of Kansas City.
Kansas City Chiefs flags and decor are scattered in front of homes, and as well as a local accountant, a florist, tire shop, and so on. A handful of homes feature Patrick Mahomes jerseys, or decorations.
Now the hottest quarterback in the NFL, Mahomes has carried the Kansas City Chiefs to their first Super Bowl in 50 years _ and he's bringing Whitehouse down to Miami, too.
Mahomes has made little Whitehouse big, and while the people are accommodating in recounting their favorite story about their celebrity son, this is a place that prefers anonymity.
Whitehouse has become Chiefs Kingdom South. A rally is scheduled for Thursday. The city will proclaim Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2, as "Patrick Mahomes Day."
