Rains

Formed June 9, 1870 (157^th county)

Rains County (12,154), Emory (1,242)

The brown brick and concrete Beaux Arts structure, built in 1908, is on the square at the intersection of Texas State Highway 19 and Quitman.  The location is one block north of United States Highway 69 on Texas State Highway 19.  The designer is Andrew J. Bryan.  The building has been remodeled in 1952, 1959, 1964, and 2006.  All three county courthouses (1871, 1884, and 1908) have been in Emory since the June 9, 1870 county founding.  Before the county’s establishment, Emory was called Springville.  Rains County was originally part of Hunt, Hopkins, and Wood counties as the 157^th county.  The county and county seat were named for Judge Emory Rains who served the county in the Texas Legislature. 

Rains County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge serves Rains, Delta, Franklin, and Hopkins counties, One District Court Judge serves Rains and Hunt counties, and One County Court Judge serves Rains County.  The county is in northeast Texas east of Dallas, Texas.  The Sabine River is the southern border of the county.  The county center is 1.4 miles Northwest of Emory.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Hopkins, Wood, Van Zandt, and Hunt counties. 

The area of the county is 259 square miles.  It is 249 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 153 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 46.9 persons per square mile making it 82 out of 254 in the state.  Rains County has 23.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 69 crosses diagonally from Hunt County on the northwest into Wood County on the east.  The county looks like a triangle with a small extension north on top.  Emory is close to the center of the county.  Emory is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 10.2% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced EM-O-REE.

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