Lamar

Formed December 17, 1840 (34^th county)

Lamar County (50,082), Paris (24,475)

The Classical Revival and Romanesque 1917 courthouse sits at the corner of Lamar and Main in Paris.  United States Highways 82 and 271 intersect one block north of this location.  Barry & Smith and Sanguinet & Staats were the designers of this marble and granite building.  The building has been enlarged.  Lafayette was the home of the first county courthouse in 1841.  Mount Vernon, now in Franklin County, was the county seat for a year. The county was organized on December 17, 1840 from Red River County as the 34^th county.  Paris has had the other five county courthouses for Lamar County the last one was built in 1896.  Mirabeau B. Lamar, Republic of Texas president and patriot, was the source for the county’s name.  Paris received its name from Paris, France. 

Lamar County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge serves Lamar, Fannin, and Red River counties, One District Court Judge serves Lamar, Delta, Franklin, and Hopkins counties, and Two County Court Judges serve Lamar County.  The county is situated along the Red River northeast of Dallas, Texas.  The Red River is its northern border with Oklahoma and the Sulphur River is its southern border.  The county center is 7 miles Northwest of Paris nearer Hopewell.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Oklahoma and Red River, Delta, and Fannin counties. 

The area of the county is 917 square miles.  It is 116 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 68 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 54.6 persons per square mile making it 70 out of 254 in the state.  Lamar County has 61.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 82 crosses east to west, Red River County to Fannin County.  United States Highway 271 enters from Oklahoma in the north and exits into Red River County to the southeast.  The county is shaped like an arch with bulges on the north and south borders.  Paris is near the county center.  Paris is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 48.9% of the county population.  This county is in the Paris Micropolitan Statistical Area.

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