Shelby County

Shelby County, Texas

Shelby County, Texas

The historic Shelby County Courthouse, erected 1885, has been and remains a landmark of the downtown section in Center, the county seat. Photograph by Billy Hathorn.
Shelby County, Texas

Shelby County, Texas

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

Shelby County is on the eastern boundary of the state, in a bulge of the Sabine River that separates it from Desoto and Sabine parishes in Louisiana. The county is bounded on the south by San Augustine and Sabine counties, on the west by Rusk and Nacogdoches counties, and on the north by Panola County. The county seat and largest town is Center, which is 160 miles northeast of Houston and forty miles northeast of Nacogdoches. Center is named for its location at the geographic center of the county, which lies at 31°47' north latitude and 94°11' west longitude. Two major highways cross the county, U.S. Highway 96, which traverses the center of the county from north to south, and U.S. Highway 84, which traverses the northern portion of the county from east to west. The county's transportation needs are also served by two railroads, the Timberrock Railroad, which traverses the county along the route of Highway 96, and the Union Pacific, which follows roughly the same route as Highway 84. Shelby County comprises 791 square miles of the East Texas timberlands, an area that is heavily forested with a great variety of softwoods and hardwoods, especially pine, cypress, and oak. The terrain varies from undulating to rolling with elevation ranging from 150 to 400 feet above mean sea level. The soil varies from a gray sandy loam on the uplands to a black rich loam in the bottom lands. Between 21 and 30 percent of the land in the county is considered prime farmland. The climate is moist and mild with temperatures that range from an average high of 94° F in July to an average low of 34° in January and an average annual rainfall of fifty inches. The growing season extends for an annual average of 240 days. Most of the county is drained by the Sabine River, but some of the western portion is drained by the Neches River. Mineral resources include lignite coal, sand, oil, and gas.

Shelby County is in an area that has been the site of human habitation for several thousand years. Archaeological artifacts have been recovered from the area around Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Sabine County to the south that date from the Archaic Period (ca. 5000 B.C.-500 A.D.). During historic times the area was occupied for the most part by Caddo Indians, an agricultural people with a highly developed culture. Earliest European exploration of the area that would become Shelby County cannot be conclusively determined. If one of the southernmost of the numerous conflicting route interpretations of the Moscoso expedition in 1542 is correct, then that group passed through or very near the area of Shelby County. It could be, however, that first European contact with the area did not occur until the eighteenth century. French and Spanish explorers discovered and utilized traces of an east-west Hasinai Indian trail, which, after 1714, became a part of El Camino Real or the Old San Antonio Road. The road ran through the area of Sabine and San Augustine counties, just south of Shelby County. In 1716 Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de los Ais Mission was founded just south of the site of present San Augustine. Although the mission was abandoned for a short period, it remained in existence until 1773. During this period the Spanish probably explored the area comprising present-day Shelby County. Sometime during the second decade of the nineteenth century John Latham, reputedly the first settler, settled in the southeastern part of the county in 1818. Mexican restrictions forbidding settlements within twenty leagues of the boundary of Texas curtailed legitimate settlement and encouraged squatters. Consequently, the area gained a reputation for violence and remained scarcely populated.

Continue Reading

Cecil Harper, Jr. | © TSHA

Handbook of Texas Logo

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

Shelby County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

174 ft – 630 ft

Size

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

  • Land Area: 795.6 mi²
  • Total Area: 834.6 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 35.1°F
July mean maximum: 94.4°F

Rainfall, 2019

54.2 inches

Population Count, 2019

25,274

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

10,673

Unemployment, 2019

8.2%

Property Values, 2019

$2,262,041,047 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$41,666 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$301,574,636 USD

Wages, 2019

$91,188,025 USD

Shelby County

Highlighted:
  • Shelby County
Loading...
Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
Town
Town 150 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 35 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 20 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 25 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town 5,133 (2021) Yes
Town
Town 35 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 30 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town 25 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 10 (2009) Yes
Town 30 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 30 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 15 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 100 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 15 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 20 (2009) Yes
Town 359 (2021) Yes
Town
Town 50 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 75 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 728 (2021) Yes
Town 20 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 80 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 65 (2009) Yes
Town 40 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 25 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 50 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Lake Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 199 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town 15 (2009) Yes
Town 75 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 55 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town 991 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 991 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Lake Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 40 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town

Proud to call Texas home?

Put your name on the town, county, or lake of your choice.


Search Places »