Lamar County () is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the U.S. state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, in the Northeast Texas region. As of the 2020 census, its population was 50,088. Its

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 ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. The county was formed by the Congress of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from M ...

on December 17, 1840, and organized the next year. It is named for Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, the second president of the Republic of Texas. Lamar County comprises the Paris, TX micropolitan statistical area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (2.8%) are covered by water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 82 * U.S. Highway 271 * State Highway 19 * State Highway 24 * Loop 286

Adjacent counties

* Choctaw County, Oklahoma (north) * Red River County (east) * Delta County (south) * Fannin County (west) *

Bryan County, Oklahoma Bryan County is a county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 42,416. Its county seat is Durant. It is the only county in the United States named for Democratic politician William Jennings Bryan. Bryan Cou ...

(northwest)

Communities

Cities

Blossom In botany, blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (genus '' Prunus'') and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring. Colloquially, flowers of orange are referred to as such a ...

* Deport (partly in Red River County) *

(county seat and largest municipality) *

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

* Roxton *

Sun Valley Sun Valley may refer to: Places Australia * Sun Valley, New South Wales * Sun Valley, Queensland, a suburb of Gladstone United States * Valley of the Sun, a region that covers the Phoenix metropolitan area *Sun Valley, Arizona * Sun Valley, Los A ...

Toco Toco is the most northeasterly village on the island of Trinidad in Trinidad and Tobago. The island of Tobago is to the northeast, making Toco the closest point in Trinidad to the sister island. The name Toco was ascribed to the area by its earl ...

Census-designated place

* Powderly

Unincorporated communities

Ambia Ambia may refer to : Places and jurisdictions in Africa * Ambia (Mauretania), an ancient former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see * Ambia, Ihosy, Madagascar, a town * Ambia, Mahabo, Madagascar, a town Places and jurisdictions elsew ...

* Arthur City *

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...

* Brookston * Chicota * Cunningham * Glory * Hopewell * Midcity * Milton * Pattonville *

Petty Petty may refer to: People * Bruce Petty (born 1929), Australian political satirist and cartoonist * Bryce Petty (born 1991), American football player * Dini Petty (born 1945), Canadian television and radio host * Eric D. Petty (born 1954), Am ...

* Sumner

Demographics

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, 48,499 people, 19,077 households, and 13,468 families resided in the county. At the tabulation of the 2020 United States census, its population increased to 50,088. Among the population, its racial and ethnic makeup was 70.58%

non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Am ...

, 12.73% Black or African American, 1.50% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.95% Asian alone, 0.05%

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawai ...

or other

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

, 0.24% some other race alone, 5.14%

multiracial Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-eth ...

, and 8.81%

Hispanic or Latino American Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify as ...

of any race. In 2000, the racial makeup of the county was 82.46%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 13.47% African American, 1.08% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 1.19% from other races, and 1.41% from two or more races. About 3.33% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race; from 2000 to 2020, the majority if its population remained predominantly non-Hispanic white against nationwide demographic trends of increased diversification.

Education

These school districts serve Lamar County: * Chisum ISD (small portion in Delta County) * Fannindel ISD (mostly in Delta and Fannin Counties; small portion in Hunt County) * Honey Grove ISD (mostly in Fannin County) * North Lamar ISD * Paris ISD *

Prairiland ISD Prairiland Independent School District is a public school district based in the community of Pattonville, Texas ( USA). The district is located in eastern Lamar County and extends into a small portion of western Red River County. In additi ...

(small portion in Red River County) Until it closed in 2019, Roxton ISD. Roxton ISD consolidated into Chisum ISD after the 2018–19 school year. In addition,

Paris Junior College Paris Junior College (PJC) is a public community college with three campuses in Texas: Paris, Greenville, and Sulphur Springs. The college was founded in 1924 as a campus of Paris Independent School District. Nearly 5,000 students are enrolled ...

serves the county.

Politics

The majority-white population supported the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

well into the late 20th century, when it was nearly a one-party state, but in the early 21st century, most have shifted to the Republican Party. Lamar County is now represented in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

by Gary VanDeaver of New Boston.

References

External links

Lamar County government's website

Lamar County in ''Handbook of Texas Online''
at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Historic Lamar County materials
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History

- Lamar County Station {{authority control 1841 establishments in the Republic of Texas Populated places established in 1841