Bois d'Arc

Bois d'Arc is a tiny rural community located on Lake Tawakoni about eleven miles northwest of Emory in northwestern Rains County. The settlement began by the late 1800s and was named for the bois d'arc trees that were common to the area. In December 1896 Frances Lynch sold two acres for a county school. Bois d'Arc School District #6 operated until 1951, when the school was closed. The property and building were sold back to the community and used for religious and social functions, but the structure was torn down around 1953. The Bois d'Arc Cemetery, known to have existed in the region, became lost to later generations with the completion of Lake Tawakoni by the early 1960s. In the 1990s Bois d'Arc still appeared on highway maps but reported a population of only ten residents. That figure remained constant in 2000.