Evadale, TX

Evadale is a Jasper County community at the junction of U.S. 96 and Farm roads 105, 1131, and 2246, about 25 miles northeast of Beaumont. The Neches River forms its western edge, and the highway ties it to Buna and Silsbee. The place began as Richardson's Bluff, where Benjamin Richardson ran a ferry in the 1830s and 1840s, then became Ford's Bluff and a collection point for logs floated toward Beaumont mills. In 1893, John Henry Kirby's Gulf, Beaumont and Kansas City Railway reached the site, and he renamed it for Eva Dale, a teacher. A sawmill and planing mill followed.

Evadale's working story is written in timber, rail, and river. By 1914, Mill U included kilns, a circular sawmill, and a planing mill; after the Kirby mill closed during the Great Depression, Champion Paper and Fiber bought riverfront acreage for a pulp mill in 1948. Today the community's school district has an elementary and junior high campus plus Evadale High School, whose Rebels identity is part of local life. Most of the CDP lies in Evadale ISD, with a smaller portion in Buna ISD. The town remains oriented to U.S. 96 and the Neches, with Beaumont the larger regional center.