Sabine County

Sabine County, Texas

Sabine County, Texas

The Sabine County Courthouse is located in Hemphill, Texas, the county seat. Photograph by Larry D. Moore.
Sabine County, Texas

Sabine County, Texas

Map of Sabine County, Texas. Map Credit: Robert Plocheck.

Sabine County, an original Texas county, is in East Texas on the Sabine River at the border of Texas and Louisiana, 140 miles northeast of Houston. The center of the county is at 31°20' north latitude and 93°50' west longitude. Sabine County covers 546 square miles in the Redlands region, which is covered with longleaf pine, oak, and hickory forests. The southern part of the county is gently rolling to hilly with loamy surfaces and deep reddish, clayey, iron-rich subsoils. The northern part has sandy acidic loamy soils with very deep reddish clayey subsoils. Elevation ranges from 150 to 350 feet. Natural resources include clay, ceramic clay, industrial sand, oil, gas, and glauconite. Six major watercourses cross the county; Patroon, Palo Gauche, and Housen bayous and Six Mile and Sandy creeks flow east into the Sabine River, and Bear Creek flows along the southwestern edge of the county. The principal freshwater source is the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer. The average annual precipitation is 51.94 inches with a mean temperature range of 36° F in January to 93° in July. The record high was 104°, and the record low was 8°. The average growing season is 236 days.

Sabine County was named for the Sabine River. The original inhabitants of the area were the Ais tribe of the Caddo Indians. Probably the first Europeans in the area were members of the Moscoso expedition in the early 1540s. In the early 1700s Louis Juchereau de St. Denis led three expeditions into Texas, one of which took him through what is now northern Sabine County, along the Old San Antonio Road, which later became the main route of travel to Texas. Thereafter the area slowly began to be settled. Original land grants from Spain and Mexico took up 220,000 acres; the largest, made to Juan Ignacio Pifermo in 1794, encompassed 17,713 acres near the site of later Geneva. Other settlers in the 1790s included Jack Cedars, Christobal Concha, and David Watman. Cedars, who lived on part of the Pifermo grant, was the first Anglo settler in the region. Concha is thought to have lived along Palo Gaucho Bayou, and Watman settled on Patroon Bayou. Before 1832 the area was part of the Municipality of Nacogdoches. It belonged to the Municipality of San Augustine from 1832 until 1835, when it became the Municipality of Sabine. A ferry across the Sabine River was established in the northern part of what became Sabine County. This ferry is thought to have been called El Paso de Chalán until 1796, when Michael Crow established Crow's Ferry. It operated until 1812, when it was purchased by James Gaines and renamed Gaines Ferry. Gaines served as alcalde of the Sabine District of the Municipality of Nacogdoches in 1824. Other settlers at this time included Donald McDonald, James Hines, Isaac Lindsey, and Elbert Hines, who was alcalde of the Sabine District in 1826.

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Matthew Hayes Nall | © TSHA

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

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Sabine County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

164 ft – 590 ft

Size

Land area does not include water surface area, whereas total area does

  • Land Area: 491.4 mi²
  • Total Area: 576.7 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 36.5°F
July mean maximum: 93.1°F

Rainfall, 2019

54.6 inches

Population Count, 2019

10,542

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

3,570

Unemployment, 2019

12.5%

Property Values, 2019

$1,179,198,932 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$34,631 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$72,752,745 USD

Wages, 2019

$23,522,706 USD

Sabine County

Highlighted:
  • Sabine County
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Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
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Town 377 (2009) Yes
Town 300 (2009) Yes
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Town 1,500 (2009) Yes
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Town 200 (2009) Yes
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Town 1,008 (2021) Yes
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Town 350 (2009) Yes
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Town 1,697 (2021) Yes
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Town 899 (2021) Yes
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Town 50 (2009) Yes
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Lake Yes
Town 29 (2009) Yes
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Lake Yes
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Town 97 (2009) Yes

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