Center, Texas City Park |
In general, East Texas is considered to be the region east of Interstate 45, and west of the Louisiana border.
The northern border is Oklahoma, while the southern edge is the Gulf of Mexico.
East Texas is typically sub-divided into three areas: Upper East Texas, Deep East Texas, and South East Texas.
The 23-county Upper East Texas region stretches from the piney woods bordering Louisiana and Arkansas to the eastern edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It includes larger cities such as Tyler and Longview, and smaller communities such as Mount Vernon, Carthage, Mineola, Linden and Jefferson.
The 3-county South East Texas region includes Hardin, Orange and Jefferson Counties, and cities such as Orange, Beaumont and Port Arthur. It borders the Sabine River to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south.
The 12-county Deep East Texas region stretches from Nacogdoches County south down to Tyler County, and from Trinity County eastward to Newton County on the Louisiana border.
It includes cities such as Nacogdoches, Crockett, Lufkin, Center, Livingston, Woodville and Jasper.
The area includes two of the oldest towns in Texas: Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas, dating from 18th century, and San Augustine, the oldest "Anglo" settlement in Texas, dating from the 1820s.
It covers an area of 9,906 square miles, and supports a population of about 371,000 residents.
The largest cities in the area are Lufkin (34,000 residents) and Nacogdoches (32,000 residents).
Scenes in downtown Nacogdoches, Texas (Photos by Pierce Ingram - Travel Texas) |
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Among the cities and towns in the Deep East Texas area are the following:
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Lumberton, Texas City Hall at 836 North Main Street
The following is a list of the 12 counties and county seats in Deep East Texas, with links to the official website of each county and the Federal Census Bureau 2020 population counts:
County Name |
County Seat |
Population |
Angelina County | Lufkin | 86,395 |
Houston County | Crockett | 22,066 |
Jasper County | Jasper | 32,980 |
Nacogdoches County | Nacogdoches | 64,653 |
Newton County | Newton | 12,217 |
Polk County | Livingston | 50,123 |
Sabine County | Hemphill | 9,984 |
San Augustine County | San Augustine | 7,918 |
San Jacinto County | Coldspring | 27,402 |
Shelby County | Center | 24,022 |
Trinity County | Groveton | 13,602 |
Tyler County | Woodville | 19,798 |
Total - 12 Counties | 371,160 |
Welcome to Lufkin and the Museum of East Texas |