San Augustine County Texas map
31.38° N · 94.16° W · County seat: San Augustine · 593 sq mi · Central Time
The road came first. SH-21 across this county follows El Camino Real de los Tejas, the Spanish route between the Rio Grande and Louisiana, and the town of San Augustine grew on it beside a mission established in 1717. It is among the oldest continuously occupied town sites in Texas, and the county around it still has fewer than 8,000 people.
The pin marks San Augustine. The water at the bottom left of the frame is the upper arm of Sam Rayburn Reservoir; the dark blocks are national forest.
Where the county is
San Augustine County sits in the eastern Piney Woods, one county short of the Louisiana line. Shelby County is north, Sabine County east, Jasper County south, Angelina County southwest and Nacogdoches County west. Toledo Bend Reservoir, the largest reservoir in Texas by surface area, is just over the Sabine County line to the east — close enough to draw traffic through here on SH-21, but not in this county.
Two towns of decent size are within an easy drive: Nacogdoches is 33 miles northwest and Lufkin 34 miles west, both by straight line. Beyond them the distances lengthen quickly — Longview 84 miles northwest, Beaumont 90 miles south, Tyler 95 miles northwest.
This is one of the original 23 counties of the Republic of Texas, organised in 1837 and taking its name, by way of the town and the mission, from Augustine of Hippo. The 2024 Census estimate of 7,767 is slightly below the 2020 count, so the county is one of the shrinking ones.
Incorporated places
| Place | Type | 2020 population |
|---|---|---|
| San Augustine | City (seat) | 1,913 |
| Broaddus | Town | 187 |
Broaddus sits above the north shore of Sam Rayburn Reservoir on SH-147 and doubles in busy weeks with lake traffic.
Highways
- SH-21 – the east–west spine and the old El Camino Real, entering from Nacogdoches, running through San Augustine and continuing east to Sabine County and the Toledo Bend crossing.
- US-96 – the north–south route, coming down from Center in Shelby County, crossing SH-21 at San Augustine and continuing toward Jasper.
- SH-147 – leaves the southwest corner of San Augustine and runs south through Broaddus to the Sam Rayburn causeway toward Zavalla and Lufkin.
- SH-103 – runs west from San Augustine toward Lufkin, the fastest route to the nearest hospital-sized town.
There is no divided four-lane highway in the county. SH-21 and US-96 cross at grade in the middle of San Augustine, which is the busiest intersection in the county.
Mission Dolores and the two national forests
Mission Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de los Ais was founded in 1717 near the present town to serve the Ais people, part of the Spanish push to hold East Texas against French Louisiana. It was abandoned, re-established in 1721 and finally closed in 1773. The site is preserved as Mission Dolores State Historic Site on the southern edge of San Augustine, with a visitor centre and a campground. The town that grew nearby in the 1830s produced a run of Greek Revival houses along Columbia Street and Broadway, and the historic district is the reason most visitors stop.
Two national forests reach into the county. The Sabine National Forest covers ground in the east toward the Sabine County line; the Angelina National Forest takes in the southwest around Broaddus and the reservoir shore. Sam Rayburn Reservoir, impounded on the Angelina River, is the largest reservoir lying entirely inside Texas, and its upper arms account for most of the county's 62 square miles of water.
Between the forests, the lake and the highway, the county's economy is timber, cattle, poultry and lake recreation. Poultry houses are a common sight along the farm roads north of SH-21.