Sabine County is a

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

located on the central eastern border of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 9,894. The county was organized on December 14, 1837, and named for the Sabine River, which forms its eastern border.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (15%) is water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 96 * State Highway 21 * State Highway 87 * State Highway 103 * State Highway 184

National Protected Areas

Sabine National Forest Sabine National Forest is located in East Texas near the Texas-Louisiana border. The forest is administered together with the other three United States National Forests and two National Grasslands located entirely in Texas, from common offices in ...

(part)

Adjacent counties and parish

* Shelby County (north) *

Sabine Parish, Louisiana Sabine Parish ( French: ''Paroisse de la Sabine'') is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 24,233. The seat of the parish is Many. Sabine was one of five parishes created in as many weeks ...

(east) * Newton County (south) * Jasper County (southwest) *

San Augustine County San Augustine County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 7,918. Its county seat is San Augustine. History San Augustine County was formed in 1837. It was supposedly named after the Saint, A ...

(west)

History

Like other eastern Texas counties, Sabine was originally developed as cotton plantations, which depended on the labor of numerous enslaved African Americans. After the Civil War and emancipation, many

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...

remained in the rural area, working as tenant farmers and sharecroppers. There was considerable violence by whites against blacks during and after Reconstruction. After 1877 and through the early 20th century, Sabine County had 10 lynchings of blacks by whites in acts of racial terrorism. This was the fourth-highest total in the state, where lynchings took place in nearly all counties through this period. From 1930 to 1970, the population declined as many African Americans left this rural county and other parts of the South in the Great Migration to escape

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

oppression and seek better jobs, especially in Northern industrial cities and on the West Coast, where the defense industry built up during World War II.

Demographics

2020 census

''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.''

2000 Census

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 incl ...

of 2000, there were 10,469 people, 4,485 households, and 3,157 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 21 people per square mile (8/km²). There were 7,659 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 87.85%

White White is the 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 reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 9.92%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.41% Native American, 0.09%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 0.82% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.88% from two or more races. 1.81% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race. There were 4,485 households, out of which 23.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.90% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 8.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.60% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.78. In the county, the population was spread out, with 21.10% under the age of 18, 5.60% from 18 to 24, 21.10% from 25 to 44, 27.20% from 45 to 64, and 24.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 93.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $27,198, and the median income for a family was $32,554. Males had a median income of $28,695 versus $21,141 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $15,821. About 11.80% of families and 15.90% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 23.90% of those under age 18 and 12.70% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The following school districts serve Sabine County: * Brookeland Independent School District (partial) * Hemphill Independent School District *

Shelbyville Independent School District Shelbyville Independent School District is a public school district based in the community of Shelbyville, Texas, Shelbyville, Texas (United States, USA). The district is located in southeastern Shelby County, Texas, Shelby County and includes pa ...

(partial) *

West Sabine Independent School District West Sabine Independent School District is a public school district based in Pineland, Texas ( USA) that serves western Sabine County. The district was formed in 1962 by the consolidation of Bronson and Pineland school districts. In 2009, th ...

The county is in the service area of

Angelina College Angelina College is a public community college with its main campus in Lufkin, Texas. It has nine off-campus centers in Crockett, Hemphill, Jasper, Livingston (Polk County Center), Nacogdoches, Pineland (Sabine Center), San Augustine, Tri ...

Communities

Cities

* Hemphill (county seat) * Pineland

Unincorporated areas

Census-designated places

* Milam

Unincorporated communities

* Bronson * Brookeland (partly in Jasper County) * Fairmount *

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Isla Isla or ISLA may refer to: Organizations * International Securities Lending Association, a trade association * International School of Los Angeles * International Bilingual School, later named International School of Los Angeles People * Isla ...

* Pendleton Harbor * Rosevine * Sexton * Yellowpine

Historical communities

Bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

* East Mayfield * Fairdale * Gravehill * Pendleton * Plainview * Sabinetown * Tebo *

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

* Vesta

COVID-19 pandemic

In July 2021, Sabine County ranked the highest in the United States for cases of Coronavirus per 100,000 people. Deaths in Texas are especially high among those that had not been vaccinated.

Politics

Sabine County has become a solidly Republican county since the beginning of the 21st century but previously leaned Democratic, voting for

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

in both 1992 and 1996 and also against Texan

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

in 1988 and 1992. Sabine County is 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 ...

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Chris Paddie, a radio broadcaster and former mayor of

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

in Harrison County.

References

External links

Sabine County website

Sabine County Chamber of Commerce
* {{coord, 31.34, -93.85, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1837 establishments in the Republic of Texas Populated places established in 1837