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Lamar County is located in the northeastern corner of Texas, on the Oklahoma border. Paris is the county seat and is the second largest Paris in the world.

Lamar County was first settled by several groups in different parts of an area to the west of Jonesborough and Clarksville. There was a group on the Red River at a place called Fulton; one near what is called Emberson now; one to the southeast of there about 12 miles near where today is the North Lamar school complex; another southwest of that at the Chisum–Johnson community called Pinhook; and a group of pioneers to the east of that about six miles at Moore's Springs. Then, in late 1839 George W. Wright moved from his farm northeast of Clarksville to a hill where he purchased 1,000 acres from Larkin Rattan. At the time no permanent settler resided on this land. It was on the old road that led from the Kiomatia River's mouth at the Red River west into the Grand Prairie. Wright established a store on the northeast portion of his property, on the road. By December 1840 a new county was formed, named in honor of the Republic of Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar. By September 1841 Wright's store was called Paris, and was a local postal office. In August 1844, the county commissioners decided to take Wright's offer of 50 acres and establish the county seat in the middle, at the town of Paris.

The area of present Lamar County was within the boundaries of Red River County at the time of the Republic of Texas. By 1840 population growth necessitated a new county, and legislation was introduced by representatives from Red River County. Wright, who had served in the Third Congress as a representative from Red River County, was a major promoter of the founding of Lamar County, which was established by act of the Fifth Congress of the republic on December 17, 1840, and organized by election on February 1, 1841. At the time, the county included much of what is now Delta County.

In 1870, Delta County was formed, and Lamar County was reduced to its present size. The county was named for Mirabeau B. Lamar, the fourth president of the Republic of Texas. The original county seat was Lafayette, a small settlement located several miles northwest of the site of present-day Paris. On June 22, 1841, forty acres of land was donated by John Watson for building a proper county seat, but though the town was platted, no lots were ever sold. The county court continued to meet at Lafayette, however, until the Texas Congress passed a law in 1842 requiring that each county seat be located within five miles of the geographic center of the county. Mount Vernon was made Lamar county seat in 1843, but again no courthouse was built. In 1844 Wright, who had purchased 1,000 acres near the settlement of Pinhook, offered to donate fifty acres to the county for a townsite if the county commissioners would make it the county seat. The offer was accepted, and the new town was named Paris. The first term of the county court was held there on April 29, 1844. Paris is still the county seat.

Source: Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/LL/hcl1.html (accessed November 5, 2009).



What's New

*Updated! The Death and Cemetery Records have reached 116420 records!! Thanks to everyone who helped us reach this number. Updated 10/11/2024

*Updated! Biographies of Lamar County - added Ubell Community of Fannin County which includes several families from western Lamar County.(3/5/2020)

*Updated - Notable People With Ties To Paris and Lamar County - added Jack Maddox, A. M. Aikin, Jr., William Johnson McDonald, Noel Philley, James Robert "Bob" Biard and updated others.(2/6/2020)

*New! Added a search box for Lamar County records at FindAGrave to the Cemetery page. (07/12/18)

*Updated! The Links page has been updated adding a link to Ancestry's Forms and charts. (06/08/18)

*Updated! The Churches information page has been updated. (06/07/18)

*New! Online marriage databases have been added to make your researching easier. Be sure you search both the Marriage Index AND the Unclaimed Original Marriage Licenses (02/26/18)

*Updated! Individual cemetery pages have been completely redesigned. The Cemetery List has been updated. (08/03/17)

*We've moved! The Lamar County website has moved to a new server. Please update your bookmarks - www.lamarcountytx.org. Thank you Starnet for providing our site a home for 21 years. (08/01/17)

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Neighboring Counties

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Bryan Co. OK Choctaw Co. OK McCurtain Co. OK Fannin Co. TX Red River Co. TX Hunt Co. TX Delta Co. TX Hopkins Co. TX Franklin Co. TX Titus Co. TX Lamar Co. TX



Neighboring Counties

Bryan Co., OK     Choctaw Co., OK     McCurtain Co., OK     Fannin County, TX
Red River Co., TX     Hunt Co., TX     Delta Co., TX     Franklin Co., TX
Hopkins Co., TX     Titus Co., TX
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For questions, corrections, additions or concerns regarding this website, please email the Lamar County, Texas County Coordinator:
Email Betsy
Civil War pages created by:
Ron Brothers
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