028 of 254: Angelina County Courthouse, Lufkin, Texas. County Population: 87,119
"The county is bounded on the north by the Angelina River and on the south by the Neches River. It comprises 807 square miles of gently rolling terrain and is densely forested with pine and a great variety of hardwoods. Altitudes range from 200 to 380 feet above sea level.
" The largest body of water in the county is Sam Rayburn Reservoir, on the Angelina River; the lake, which extends into Jasper, Sabine, Nacogdoches, and San Augustine counties, covers 114,500 acres. "Settlement was still thin when Texas won its independence. Angelina County was organized on April 22, 1846, when Nacogdoches County was divided. The population increased quickly thereafter due to the good farming land and to the rivers, which made steamboat transportation possible. "The first county seat was Marion; successively, Jonesville became county seat in 1854, Homer in 1858, and Lufkin in 1892. Lufkin was favored by the route of the Houston, East and West Texas Railway (now the Union Pacific), which had been built in 1882 from Houston to Shreveport. "In 1861 Angelina County was the only county in East Texas, and one of only a handful of other Texas counties, to reject secession." Megan Biesele, "ANGELINA COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online I visited Angelina County and photographed the courthouse in Lufkin on September 28, 2009 and March 23, 2012 |
Angelina County Courthouse 1903
Angelina County Courthouse 1955
This modern building, designed by architect Wilbur Kent, replaced the historic J. Riely Gordon courthouse in 1955.