Rusk County

Rusk County is on the Sabine Uplift of the Coastal Plains between the Sabine and Angelina rivers in the Piney Woods of East Texas. It is 120 miles southeast of Dallas and seventy-five miles west-southwest of Shreveport, Louisiana. The county is bounded on the north by Gregg and Harrison counties, on the east by Shelby and Panola counties, on the south by Nacogdoches County, and on the west by Smith and Cherokee counties. Henderson, the county seat, is the near to the geographic center of the county, which is at 32°10' north latitude and 94°45' west longitude. The county's transportation needs are served by U. S. highways 59, 79, 84, and 259, State highways 42, 43, 64, 135, 149, and 322, and the Missouri Pacific and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroads. Rusk County comprises 932 square miles. The terrain is marked by sloping hills, narrow valleys, and glens. The altitude varies from 300 to 750 feet, with the highest elevations along the iron-capped ridges in the northern and northeastern and southern portions. The soil of the county is light-colored deep sandy loam with underlying clay and lignite, both of which are produced in the county. The clay is made into bricks by Boral-Henderson Clay Products, and the lignite is mined by Texas Utility Mining and Generating Company. Between 11 and 20 percent of the land in the county is considered prime farmland. The county is forested with more than twenty varieties of trees. Red and white pine, post oak, blackjack, and hickory are commonly found in the uplands, and white oak, red oak, ash, walnut, mulberry, ironwood, gum, elm, beech, and dogwood grow abundantly in the low-lying areas. Cypress trees are found along Cherokee Bayou, Tiawichi Creek, and other streams. Grasses include Bermuda, fescue, and Johnson, together with burr clover. Wildflowers abound in the spring: violets, blue daisies, cowslips, yellow jessamines, wild honeysuckle, standing cypress, wild onion, tigrida, and blackeyed susans. The climate is subtropical-humid, with mild winters and warm summers. Temperatures range in January from an average low of 35° F to an average high of 56°, and in July from 71° to 94°. The average annual rainfall is forty-five inches. The average relative humidity is 85 percent at 6:00 A.M. and 57 percent at 6:00 P.M. The average annual snowfall is two inches. The growing season averages 250 days a year, with the last freeze in mid-March and the first freeze in mid-November.

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.