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TRINITY COUNTY EXTENSION WELCOMES YOU

Trinity County is located in the East Texas Timberlands region. Groveton, the county seat of government, is near the center of the county and 90 air miles north of Houston. The county's name is from the Trinity River, which forms its southeastern boundary. Trinity County covers 692 square miles of rolling to hilly terrain that extends diagonally from the Trinity River northeast to the Neches River. The area is drained by these rivers and by a number of creeks that drain into them; near the southern tip of the county the Trinity has been dammed to form Livingston Reservoir, which provides water and recreation for the area.

Before the advent of the lumber industry in the 1880s, the area was covered by forests of immense trees as large as fifty inches in diameter with first limbs sixty to eighty feet above the ground. Though these forests were destroyed, many areas are now reforested, and much of the county is dotted with pine and hardwood forests. Trinity County harbors a wide variety of wildlife species, including opossum, Eastern Mole, pocket gopher, coyote, red wolf, red fox, striped skunk, river otter, mink, beaver, deer, and armadillo.The area is also home to numerous snake species, from the harmless coachwhip and common garter snakes to the poisonous copperhead, Western cottonmouth, and diamond back rattler. Birds found in the area include great blue heron, ibis, marsh hawk, whippoorwill, mourning dove, roadrunner, and pileated woodpecker. About 59 percent of the land in the county is controlled by timber interests or the national government: almost 200,000 acres of the county's land is owned by lumber and paper companies, while the Davy Crockett National Forestcovers more than 73,000 acres. In 1982 about 36 percent of the county was in farms and ranches; 83 percent of the area's agricultural receipts was from livestock and livestock products, especially cattle, milk, and hogs. Coastal and Bermuda grasses with winter ground cover of oats and rye were raised as feed for cattle, and local farmers also grew sweet potatoes, peaches, and pecans.