Freestone County

Freestone County is located in east central Texas in the center of a group of counties once known as the Trinity Star. It is bounded on the east by Anderson County, on the south by Leon County, on the west by Limestone County, and on the north by Navarro and Henderson counties. The county's center lies at 31°43' north latitude and 96°07' west longitude; Fairfield, the county seat, is about eighty miles southeast of Dallas. Freestone County covers 888 square miles of coastal plain upland with an elevation ranging from 600 to 900 feet above sea level. The topography is generally a smooth, even plain with a gentle slope from northwest to southeast. The area is timbered with mesquite on the west, while the eastern half has almost every variety of oak, hickory, and walnut; there is a also scattering of pine groves on the western bank of the Trinity River, which provides drainage for the entire county, with the exception of a small area in the southwest, where runoff finds its way to the Navasota River. Most of the soil is fine sandy loam; springs are common in the deep sandy areas. Rainfall averages about thirty-eight inches per year, and temperatures range from an average high of 94° F in July to an average low of 36° in January. The growing season extends for 263 days. Interstate Highway 45 and State Highway 75 run north-south through the county, while U.S. Route 84 runs northwest to southeast.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.