JOAQUIN, TEXAS

Shelby County, East Texas

31°57'56"N 94°2'54"W (31.965511, -94.048316)
Highway 84
14 miles NE of Center the county seat
12 miles E of Tenaha
2 miles W of the Louisiana State Line
Population: 822 Est. (2016)
824 (2010) 925 (2000) 805 (1990)

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Downtown Joaquin
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006

History in a Pecan Shell

Joaquin was founded by Benjamin Franklin Morris in 1885. Morris donated the land to the Houston, East and West Texas Railway, provided the railroad would build a depot. The community (and depot) were named after Morris' grandson Joaquin Morris.

A post office was granted in 1886 and four years later there were 100 people living there. The 1914 population had swelled to 350 and the town had a newspaper, sawmill, bank and cotton gin. In 1940 as the population was nearing 500 and Joaquin incorporated. The population reached 584 by the early 1950s. It dipped below 500 in the late 1960s but with the construction of Toledo Bend Reservoir, Joaquin received a reprieve. In the late 1980s Joaquin's population reached 969, but it has since declined to the present 824.

First Baptist Church
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006

First First Methodist Church, Joaquin, Texas

First Methodist Church in Joaquin
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006

VFD and Sheriffs' Office, Joaquin, Texas

VFD and Sheriffs' Office
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006

Joaquin Chronicles

The Crystal Lakes of Texas by Clint Skinner
"... In Shelby County near the Sabine River, Crystal Lake lies 1.4 miles west of a town called Joaquin. The artificial body of water serves as a reservoir for the town and surrounding area. Its construction began in 1913, thanks to the effort of Abner O. Whiddon... " more

Take a road trip

Joaquin, Texas Nearby Towns:
Center the county seat
Tenaha
See Shelby County | East Texas

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