Emory, TX

Emory started as Springville, then took the name of Emory Rains when Rains County was created in 1870. Rains was a Texas legislator who supported the state’s Homestead Law and rode to Austin to help establish the county. The town’s next big change came with the railroad around 1880, when Emory became a shipping point for the surrounding lumber country. Lake Tawakoni, completed in 1960, added another regional layer, with Lake Fork Reservoir to the east. Today Emory remains the county seat, with the courthouse lawn carrying a historical marker for Rains County. The local shorthand is railroad, lakes, and a town named for the lawmaker who helped draw the county on the map.