DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Sabine County, Texas. Now settle in, because this one goes back a good long ways. Sabine County sits right on the eastern edge of Texas, pressed up against Louisiana with the Sabine River running between them like a fence line that means business.
It's one of the original twenty-three Texas counties — not a latecomer, not a subdivision of something bigger, but an original. And the river it's named for was already there long before anyone thought to name a county after it. Before any of the mapmakers showed up, the Ais tribe of the Caddo Indians called this land home.
Then, by the early seventeen hundreds, Spanish explorers were passing through. And by eighteen twenty-five, the Mexican government had gotten organized enough to establish the district of Sabine — which turned into something of a front door into Texas. U.S. settlers immigrating into the territory came through here, among them a fellow you might've heard of: Stephen F.
Austin himself. In eighteen thirty-seven, after the War for Texas Independence had been fought and settled, the new Texas government formed Sabine County proper. A town called Milam took the role of county seat first.
But Milam held that distinction only until eighteen fifty-eight, when Hemphill stepped in — chosen because it sat in a more central location. Hemphill's been the county seat ever since. Now, if you're driving through Sabine County today, you'll notice something right away: trees.
Lots and lots of trees. That's not an accident. Timber harvesting and production has been the primary industry in this heavily-forested county since around eighteen eighty.
Back then, logs were floated right down the Sabine River to large sawmills over in Orange County. The forest fed the economy, and the river did the hauling. Then the railroads came.
In nineteen-oh-three, the Gulf, Beaumont and Great Northern Railroad Company began operating a railway segment in Sabine County, and that changed things considerably. The population steadily climbed — until the Great Depression hit, and hit hard. Here's the part that'll stick with you.
Sabine County was without banking service from nineteen thirty-three all the way until nineteen forty-four. Eleven years without a bank. Families packed up and left searching for work, and the population dropped steeply.
The Depression left a mark on this county that lasted. But Sabine County had one more card to play. In the nineteen sixties, work began on the Toledo Bend Reservoir — one of the largest man-made lakes in the entire United States.
When the reservoir was completed in the late nineteen sixties, people started coming back. The population got a boost it badly needed. By twenty-ten, approximately ten thousand residents were calling Sabine County home — a county that started as a doorway into Texas, built its back on timber and railroads, weathered a depression that took its bank and a good chunk of its people, and then got a second wind from a lake big enough to find on a map of the country.
That river's still running. Still marking the line. Some things in Sabine County don't change.
What the marker says
Sabine County, one of the original 23 Texas counties, is on the eastern border of Texas. It is bound by and named for the sabine river, which separates the state from Louisiana. Originally, the Ais tribe of the Caddo Indians lived in the area. By the early 1700s, Spanish explorers passed through the county. By 1825, the Mexican government had established the district of Sabine, which became an entry point for U.S. Settlers immigrating into Texas, including Stephen F. Austin. In 1837, after the War for Texas Independence, the new government formed Sabine County. Milam served as the county seat until 1858, when Hemphill was established for that role as a more centrally located community. Timber harvesting and production has been the primary industry in heavily-forested Sabine County since around 1880. At that time, logs were floated down the Sabine River to large saw mills in Orange County. The railroads also had a major economic impact beginning in 1903, when the Gulf, Beaumont & Great Northern Railroad Company began operation of a railway segment in Sabine County. The population steadily increased until the Great Depression, which had a long-lasting effect on the area. Sabine County was without banking service from 1933 until 1944. Many families moved from the county to search for jobs, leading to steep decline in population. In the 1960s, work began on the Toledo Bend Reservoir, one of the largest man-made lakes in the U.S. Completion of the reservoir in the late 1960s led to a boost in the county's population. In 2010, approximately 10,000 residents lived in historic Sabine County.