Boston is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

of Bowie County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. According to the

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President W ...

, the community had a population of 200 in 2000. It is part of the Texarkana metropolitan area.

History

In the mid-1880s, as the population of (Old) Boston declined, citizens of Texarkana successfully moved the county seat to their city in the extreme east of the county. Within five years, citizens of central and western Bowie County successfully proposed moving the county seat closer to the geographic center of the county. The new community began in 1890 with the construction of the County Courthouse, one mile south of New Boston and three miles north of the original Boston. The county seat was required to have a post office. After the first three proposed names,

Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

, Hood, and

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were rejected as already in use, Boston's post office (including its name) was relocated to the new county seat, while the original was relabeled "Old Boston". In the 1980s, a new courthouse was built in New Boston, but Boston remained the county seat. Its population was recorded at 200 in 2000. Its population was also recorded as 175 from 1896 through the early 1990s. It had only two operating businesses in 1982. The Bowie County jail in the community is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

Geography

Boston is located off of

U.S. Highway 82 U.S. Route 82 (US 82) is an east–west United States highway in the Southern United States. Created on July 1, 1931 across central Mississippi and southern Arkansas, US 82 eventually became a 1,625-mile (2,615 km) route extending from ...

and the

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

, west of Texarkana in central Bowie County.

Education

Boston is served by the New Boston Independent School District.

Notable people

* Jeff D. Leach, businessman and

microbiome A microbiome () is the community of microorganisms that can usually be found living together in any given habitat. It was defined more precisely in 1988 by Whipps ''et al.'' as "a characteristic microbial community occupying a reasonably wel ...

researcher, was born in Boston. * William Lee Estes,

United States federal judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S ...

, was born in Boston. * Howell Washington Runnels Sr. was a store clerk in Boston.

In popular culture

The movie Christmas on Mars was filmed in Boston.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Bowie County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas County seats in Texas Texarkana metropolitan area