Rains_County_Texas.jpg

Rains County, Texas

Privacy Level: Open (White)
Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: Rains County, Texas us_history
Profile manager: Mary Richardson private message [send private message]
This page has been accessed 1,386 times.


Welcome to Rains County, Texas Project!


flag
... ... ... is a part of Texas history.
Join: Texas Project
Discuss: Texas


Contents

Formed From

  • Rains County was carved out of Hopkins, Hunt and Wood counties and organized in 1870.Both county and county seat are named for Emory Rains, Republic leader.[1]

Adjacent Counties

Northwest
 North
Hopkins County		 Northeast
North arrow
West
Hunt County		 West arrow Rains County, Texas East arrow East
Wood County
South arrow
Southwest
"Lake Tawakoni"		 South
"Sabine River"
Van Zandt County		 Southeast

History/Timeline

Rains County Seal
A.D. 800 Indians of the Caddo culture appeared in the area. No mounds have been found in Rains County, but many lesser village sites have been unearthed.[2]
Archaic period, - 72 known prehistoric sites in have been found Rains County, half are from the Archaic period. [2]
1700's The Tawakoni Indians entered the Rains co. region. Wichita tribes, including the Tawakoni and Yscani Indians, moved southward into Texas and settled in an area from Rains County south and west to the Brazos River. [2] [3]
1760 - Fray José Francisco de Calahorra y Saenz and his party, left Nacogdoches on a mission to end hostilities between the Spanish and the northern tribes. He later made two more visits to the Indian villages on the Sabine. Then the Spanish left East Texas.[2].
Rains County, Texas, was originally part of the Nacogdoches district. [4]
1840 Anglo-Americans settlers began to arrive in Rains co. area. [3]James H. Hooker of Tennessee seems to be the original settler in SW part of Rains co. area establishing Hooker's Mill on the Sabine River. [2]

The community of Emory was originally named Springville and part of Wood County.

1857 plat of Springville, Texas, USA shows Ravine Street, which remains in Emory today, as the oldest original street. [4]
1857 - Springville town had a store, tanning yard, and gin. [2]
June 9, 1870 Emory Rains introduced a bill in the Texas State Legislature, creating Rains County, Texas. The county was named in his honor and the county seat was chosen as Springville. This was soon changed to Emory, Texas for County Seat, in honor of after Mr. Rains' given name (Emory, Texas). The settlement had been known as Springville, due to the many springs in the area, up until this time.[5]
The first county officials were Press RAINS, sheriff; Ambrose FITZGERALD, County Clerk; John D. RAINS, District Clerk; H.W. MARTIN, County Attorney; E.P. KEARBY, County Judge; James GARY, County Treasurer; Levi SIMPSON, Chief Justice and County Commissioner [4]
1870, the Texas Legislature created Rains County from portions of Hopkins, Hunt and Wood, Van Zant Counties. [3]
Rains County was named for a Texas patriot, Emory Rains. County seat named for Emory Rains, Republic leader. The County chose Springville as the county seat. The public square already existed, thus this became the site for the county courthouse. [6][3]
early 1880s rail service was first brought to Rains County, most of the inhabitants did their business in Mineola in adjoining Wood County. [2]
Citizens began educating their children with 25 rural schools in operation in the county for many years. Some were Bonanza (aka McCord #1 and #2; 1890), Hogansville (1904), Pilgrims Rest, Poole, Bright Star, Ginger (aka Center Grove & Stone Chapel and had the nickname of "Seed Tick"), Freedom, Martin and Union Ridge, Waskom, Lynch, Bois d'Arc, Woosley, Antioch, New Holmes, Rocky Point ( Sweet Home), Clark's Chapel (aka Flats), Dunbar, Woodson, Willow Springs, Gritt, Bellview, Colony, Center Point, Reeders, Boyd, and Cody as well as the schools located in Emory and Point. Many of the schools were held in the church house located in the area.
1902 The National Farmers Union began here.[3]
1957 archeologists excavated a site on the north bank of the Sabine River in SW Rains County. They concluded the site was the village described by Calahorra in his diary. They found Indian artifacts, trade goods manufactured of Spanish, French and English origin. [2]
1970 The Courthouse was recorded Texas Historic Landmark Number 10860 was placed in the county courthouse lawn.


Government Offices

1st Courthouse, 1870 -

The first courthouse was a temporary log structure.[7]

2nd courthouse, 1872,

A 2 room wooden structure was built by Issac Allred in the center of the square. It lasted 2 years when it burned 1879, destroying the building and records. The courthouse and all legal papers were burned. Citizens hurried to the County Clerk, Thomas M Allred, to re-record their legal papers. November 1879 and all records up to that date were destroyed although many people flocked to re-record their legal papers with County Clerk Thomas M. ALLRED.[8] [7]

3rd Courthouses 1879

The county officials had to return to the log structure temporarily that they originally used in 1870.[9]

4th Courthouse, 1884 -

The County used the log structure until the new 2-story building was finished, made of red Brick made of red clay and sand bricks. This burned in 1908. The steel vault which had been installed prior to 1908, contained county records and survived the fire. [7]

5th Courthouse, 1909

Bryan Architectural Company of St. Louis Missouri designed the new courthouse and built it around the standing steel vault in the original location. Crushed brick of the 1884 building was used in the foundation to give it some character. This courthouse has projecting wings, is 2-story, white brick building. The white brick was burned at the Rains County Fraser Brick Plant of Ginger, Texas.. The building was built in the form of a maltese cross with the wings pointing to the northeast, southwest, etc. The dome was added later.ginger brick produced at the Fraser Brick Co. The phrase "white" versus ginger were named for the clay color of the area. It is Classical Revival style, plasters and pediment capped entries, with a central dome. [7][10]

Notable speakers on the Courthouse square have have been U.S. Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and former president Lyndon Johnson. The site of community fairs, festivals, celebrations and parades, the square continues to be a focal point for Emory and Rains County.[7]

Rains County Courthouse.

Geography

"'Location in Texas"'.
Location Rains County is located in the Piney Woods section of northeastern Texas.
Size: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 259 square miles, of which 229 square miles is land and 29 square miles is water.
Size Ranking - 4th-smallest county in Texas by land area and the 5th-smallest by total area.
Altitude: - 406 to 491 feet above sea level.
Temperature -maximum is 95° F in July, and the average minimum is 31° in January.
Rainfall - average of 42.2 inches of rain per year
Growing season of 242 days.
Lakes - 10 percent of Rains County is under water since the construction of Lake Tawakoni and Lake Fork Reservoir.
Soil - a mixture of sand and clay.
Rivers -Sabine River forms the southern border of the county. Most of the creeks drain Northeast into the Lake Fork of the Sabine. Other creeks - Elm, Cedar, Garrett, Woodbury, Brushy, Sandy, Turkey, Bull, and Bear creeks. There are also numerous springs. The largest group, Springville Springs, are the source of a stream that flows through the city park in Emory.
Trees - post oak, blackjack oak, walnut, cedar elm, and black hickory, winged elm, chinaberry, redbud, and dogwood.
Type of area western Blackland Prairie
Vegetation -tall grasses and mesquites, and post oak, elm, pecan trees near streams.
Animals -Diverse , but low in number number- such as opossum, cottontail, swamp rabbit, squirrel, plains pocket gopher, beaver, coyote, gray fox, raccoon, weasel, mink, river otter, skunk, bobcat, white-tailed deer and armadillo.

Extinct - Black Bear, mountain lion, red wolf, Alligator, buffalo, wild turkey have either been exterminated or driven away .

Local Resources

Agriculture

  • Beef Cattle
  • Dairies
  • Forages
  • Fruilts
  • Nurseries
  • Vegetables (Second in sweet potato acreage)

Minerals

  • Natural Gas
  • Oil

Protected Areas

Demographics

2010, there were 10,914 people residing in the county with a population density of 48 people/sq. mi. The racial makeup of the county was 91.2% White, 2.92% Black or African American, 1.0% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.55% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. 7.7% of the population were Hispanic.The median income for a household in the county was $46,531 and the median income for a family was $40,329.The per capita income for the county was $22,933. About 11.40% of families and 14.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.50% of those under age 18 and 14.10% of those age 65 or over.[11]

Major Highways

  • U.S. Highway 69
  • State Highway 19
  • State Highway 276


Cities

Population estimated as of Jan 1, 2014 shown in parenthesis.

Uncorporated Towns

Events/Festivals

  • Eagle Fest in February, Emory
  • Tamale Festival on July 4, Point

Schools

Rockin Schoolhouse

There are 4 public schools and no private schools in Rains County.

Public Schools

Listed by category.

Private Schools

There are no private schools in Rains County.

Cemeteries

City of the Dead



Historical Census

1880 --- 3,035 —
1890 --- 3,909 28.8%
1900 --- 6,127 56.7%
1910 --- 6,787 10.8%
1920 --- 8,099 19.3%
1930 --- 7,114 −12.2%
1940 --- 7,334 3.1%
1950 --- 4,266 −41.8%
1960 --- 2,993 −29.8%
1970 --- 3,752 25.4%
1980 --- 4,839 29.0%
1990 --- 6,715 38.8%
2000 --- 9,139 36.1%
2010 --- 10,914 19.4%
Est. 2016 --- 11,314

County Resources

Lakes

  • Lake Fork Reservoir
  • Lake Tawakoni

Sources

  1. ↑ https://texasalmanac.com/index.php?q=topics/government/rains-county
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcr01
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 texasalmanac.com/topics/government/rains-county
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txrains/Histories/hist.htm
  5. ↑ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hle19
  6. ↑ http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/Emory-Texas-Rains-County-Courthouse.htm
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/Emory-Texas-Rains-County-Courthouse.htm
  8. ↑ http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txrains/Histories/hist.htm
  9. ↑ http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txrains/Histories/hist.htm
  10. ↑ http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txrains/Histories/hist.htm
  11. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rains_County,_Texas




Images: 3
Rains County Seal
Rains County Seal
Rains County Courthouse
Rains County Courthouse
Location in Texas
Location in Texas
Collaboration
  • Login to edit this profile and add images.
  • Private Messages: Send a private message to the Profile Manager. (Best when privacy is an issue.)
  • Public Comments: Login to post. (Best for messages specifically directed to those editing this profile. Limit 20 per day.)


Comments

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.

Categories: Rains County, Texas | Texas Projects