Lamar County, Texas

Lamar County is a county in Texas, United States, about 100 miles northeast of Dallas. It had a
population of 50,088 at the 2020 census, an estimated 50,669 by 2024, and covers 933 square miles
(2,420 km2) centred near 33°40′N 95°34′W.

Paris is the county seat and largest city; its postal code is 75460. The county holds 7
incorporated cities, 3 census-designated places and a scatter of unincorporated communities across
Northeast Texas, and it runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 48173.

Towns & Villages in Lamar County

Lamar County has 12 named places with current Census Bureau or USPS data on file: 7
incorporated cities, 3 census-designated places (CDPs) and 2 unincorporated communities that
still carry their own ZIP code. A CDP is an unincorporated area the Census Bureau tracks as if it
were a town; Unincorp. covers a crossroads community with no municipal government and no separate
population count.

Older maps and county plat records also carry dozens of smaller place names — Ambia,
Biardstown, Emberson, Faught, Novice, Pattonville, Pin Hook and Tigertown among them. The Census
Bureau has never tabulated a separate population for any of them, so they are treated here as
historic or informal locales rather than mapped communities with their own data.

ZIP Codes

• 75460 — Paris (the county’s main ZIP; Paris also uses 75461 and 75462)
• 75416 — Blossom
• 75435 — Deport
• 75477 — Roxton
• 75411 — Arthur City

Reno, Powderly, Petty, Toco, Brookston, Sun Valley and Chicota have no ZIP code of their own;
mail addressed there is delivered under Paris’s or a neighboring town’s code.

Geography

Lamar County sits in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, where the Red
River forms the county’s entire northern boundary with Oklahoma. Of its 933 square miles, 907 are
land and 26 are water, about 2.8 percent, and most of that water sits in Pat Mayse Lake. The lake,
a US Army Corps of Engineers reservoir on Sanders Creek near Powderly and Chicota, was built for
flood control and is now used for fishing and hunting.

Red River County lies to the east, Delta County to the south, Fannin County to the west, and
Choctaw County, Oklahoma sits across the Red River to the north. Red River County, Delta County and Fannin County all border Lamar
directly.

Demographics

Lamar County had a population of 50,088 at the 2020 census, and the latest Census Bureau
estimate puts the county near 50,669 residents as of 2024. Paris and Reno are the two largest
communities, together holding well over half the county’s population. Median household income
runs $61,880, below the Texas statewide figure of $75,780 (2023 ACS). Population density works
out to roughly 55 people per square mile of land.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 3,704 people,
followed by retail trade at 3,010 and educational services at 2,614. Essent-PRMC, the county’s
hospital system, is one of Paris’s largest employers at around 1,000 workers, followed by a
Campbell Soup Company plant at about 900 and a Kimberly-Clark paper mill at about 800. Turner
Industries, an industrial contractor, employs roughly 700. Cotton trading once drove the county’s
economy; agribusiness and livestock sales remain part of it today, but health care and
manufacturing have become the leading employers. Paris hosts the Tour de Paris bicycle rally each
July.

History

The Congress of the Republic of Texas created Lamar County on 17 December 1840, carving it out
of Red River County, and voters organised it on 1 February 1841. It is named for Mirabeau B.
Lamar, the second president of the Republic of Texas. The Central National Road, opened in 1844,
ran north from Dallas through Paris to a Red River crossing, fixing Paris’s role as a trade town
from the start.

Paris was incorporated in 1845. Fire destroyed much of its downtown three times — in
1877, 1896 and again in 1916 — and the town rebuilt each time. Paris was also the site of
documented lynchings in 1893 and 1920, a history the city has not erased from its record. An F4
tornado struck the city in 1982, causing extensive damage.

Getting There

No interstate highway crosses Lamar County; Paris is the second-largest city in Texas without a
four-lane divided route connecting directly to one. US Highway 82 and US Highway 271 cross the
county, along with State Highways 19 and 24 and Loop 286 around Paris. Drivers heading for the
interstate system go north on US 271 into Oklahoma to reach the Indian Nation Turnpike and
Interstate 40 at Henryetta.

• Dallas — about 100 miles southwest

Cox Field, on the west side of Paris, handles general aviation and charter traffic; the
nearest full commercial airport is Dallas Fort Worth International, about 100 miles southwest. No
Amtrak line serves the county — the rail lines through Paris carry freight only — and
intercity bus routes connect through Mount Pleasant and Sulphur Springs instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Lamar County located?
It sits in Northeast Texas along the Red River, about 100 miles northeast of Dallas, bordered by
Red River, Delta and Fannin counties and Oklahoma’s Choctaw County.

What is the population of Lamar County?
50,088 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 50,669.

How big is Lamar County?
933 square miles (2,420 km2), of which 907 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Lamar County?
Paris, incorporated in 1845, is the county seat and largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Lamar County?
Seven incorporated cities — Paris, Reno, Blossom, Deport, Roxton, Toco and Sun Valley
— plus three census-designated places: Powderly, Petty and Brookston.

What ZIP codes does Lamar County use?
75460 through 75462 for Paris, 75416 for Blossom, 75435 for Deport, 75477 for Roxton and 75411
for Arthur City.

What is Lamar County known for?
Pat Mayse Lake, a Corps of Engineers reservoir near Powderly, and Paris’s 65-foot Eiffel Tower
replica, topped with a red cowboy hat, downtown.

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