Henderson County, Texas

Henderson County is a county in Texas, United States, centred on Cedar Creek Reservoir southeast of Dallas. It had a population of 82,150 at the 2020 census and covers 948 square miles (2,460 km2), centred near 32°13′N 95°51′W.

Athens is the county seat, and its postal code is 75751. The county contains 13 incorporated cities, 7 incorporated towns, one census-designated place and roughly two dozen unincorporated communities. Henderson County lies in the Central time zone.

Towns & Villages in Henderson County

Henderson County has 13 incorporated cities, 7 incorporated towns, one census-designated place (Sunrise Shores) and about two dozen unincorporated communities, most of them strung along the shoreline of Cedar Creek Reservoir in the county’s northwest. In the table below, City and Town reflect each place’s legal Texas classification; CDP marks the Census Bureau-designated place with no municipal government; Unincorp. marks places with no incorporated government at all.

Two of the county’s municipalities straddle a county line: most of Mabank lies across the border in Kaufman County, and a small part of Seven Points extends into Kaufman County as well; both are listed here because the bulk of each city and its post office sit inside Henderson County.

ZIP Codes

• 75751 & 75752 — Athens
• 75156 — Gun Barrel City

The county’s other incorporated towns and unincorporated communities are covered by these and neighboring post offices; individual ZIP assignments for the smaller places were not independently verified for this profile.

Geography

Henderson County sits at the transition between Blackland Prairie in the west and the Piney Woods in the east. Cedar Creek Reservoir, a roughly 33,000-acre lake impounded in the 1960s to supply Dallas with water, fills much of the county’s northwest corner and anchors most of its lake towns — Gun Barrel City, Tool, Seven Points, Log Cabin, Payne Springs, Star Harbor and Enchanted Oaks all sit on or near its shoreline. Lake Palestine touches the county’s northeastern edge.

The county is bordered by Kaufman County to the north, Van Zandt County also to the north, Smith County to the east, Cherokee County to the southeast, Anderson County to the south, Freestone County to the southwest, Navarro County to the west, and Ellis County to the northwest.

Demographics

Henderson County’s population was 82,150 at the 2020 census, and the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2025 population estimate put the county at 88,595, a density of about 87 people per square mile (34 per km2). Athens, with 12,857 residents in 2020, and Gun Barrel City, with 6,190, are the county’s two largest communities. Median household income in the county trails the Texas median of $75,780, consistent with a rural, retirement- and lake-oriented economy rather than a metro one.

Economy & Local Life

Agriculture, oilfield services and lake-based tourism anchor the county’s economy. Athens hosts the main campus of Trinity Valley Community College and has long billed itself the “Black-Eyed Pea Capital of the World,” a title it celebrates each summer with the Black-Eyed Pea Jamboree. Cedar Creek Reservoir draws boating, fishing and vacation-home traffic out of the Dallas–Fort Worth area, supporting marinas and RV parks around Gun Barrel City, Tool and Seven Points. Athens Regional Medical Center and the county courthouse square, home to the long-running “Courts Under the Oaks” storytelling festival, anchor the seat’s own local life.

History

Henderson County was created in 1846, the year Texas joined the Union, and is named for James Pinckney Henderson, who served as the Republic of Texas’s attorney general and secretary of state before becoming Texas’s first state governor. The county’s first town, Buffalo, was laid out in 1847; the community survives today, though the settlements of Centreville and Corinth that grew up alongside it were later abandoned and are now counted among the county’s ghost towns. Henderson County is part of the Athens micropolitan statistical area, itself part of the wider Dallas–Fort Worth combined statistical area. Cedar Creek Reservoir, built in the 1960s, reshaped the county’s northwest quarter and gave rise to nearly all of its lake-town municipalities in the decades since.

Getting There

U.S. Highway 175 runs southeast through Athens on its way from the Dallas area toward Jacksonville; state highways 19, 31, 155, 198, 274 and 334 fan out from the county seat.

• Tyler — about 30 miles east
• Dallas — about 65 miles northwest
• Corsicana — about 35 miles west
• Palestine — about 30 miles south

The nearest commercial airport is Tyler Pounds Regional Airport in Smith County; Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is roughly 75 miles northwest. Athens Municipal Airport handles general aviation traffic only.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Henderson County, Texas?
It is in Texas, about 65 miles southeast of Dallas in the northeastern part of the state, centred on Cedar Creek Reservoir and the city of Athens.

What is the population of Henderson County?
82,150 at the 2020 census; the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate is 88,595.

How big is Henderson County?
948 square miles (2,460 km2), of which about 75 square miles is water, mostly Cedar Creek Reservoir.

What is the county seat of Henderson County?
Athens is the county seat and the county’s largest city.

How many towns are in Henderson County?
The county has 13 incorporated cities, 7 incorporated towns, one census-designated place and roughly two dozen unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes are in Henderson County?
Athens uses 75751 and 75752; Gun Barrel City uses 75156; the county’s other communities are covered by neighboring post offices.

Why is Athens called the Black-Eyed Pea Capital of the World?
The city has used the self-given title for decades and marks it each summer with the Black-Eyed Pea Jamboree downtown.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Texas.