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Old 05-25-2011, 09:32 AM
 
3 posts, read 6,987 times
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I am planning on moving/retiring to East Texas from South Texas (tired of drought) and wanted to know a little about where to look for acreage (400 to 800 acres) to raise cattle as well as large tracts of hardwood forest (I just like trees). I have looked a little at Newton, Jasper, Hardin, Tyler counties on the internet but found little about terrain and soil. I prefer as rural an area as possible but the wife needs to shop once and a while, and would like the terrain to be a little rolling as I understand the area gets 50 plus inches of rain a year and don't want to deal with water in the house. Would like the soil to be somewhat fertile as I like to grow things and in my area of Texas we mostly have mostly sandy soil which isn't great for growing much. Will be going to visit the area this weekend and just drive around as much as possible to get a feel for where we would like to concentrate our search. Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated...Thanks in advance...
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Old 05-25-2011, 10:58 AM
 
Location: League City
3,842 posts, read 8,268,773 times
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I grew up in Orange Co, right south of Newton Co. Definitely rural. I think the biggest town in that area is 9,000, and people go to Lufkin to shop at the 'big' stores. I guess you are the same distance to Beaumont, too. As far as I know the terrain is not rolling that far south. You will get LOTS of rain. And they are prone to hurricanes. Places I am familiar with are more segregated, too. Some places I actually felt uncomfortable. Check it out, but I would not recommend it. If you want rural, green, rolling hills, and fertile, I'd recommend looking around Brenham. Very nice town. Lots of tiny, pleasant farming towns around it.
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Old 05-25-2011, 12:30 PM
 
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Default Daniel,

Thanks for the reply,

My thought was to move at least 50 miles inland if not more from the coast, I remember Rita a few years back and do not want to have to worry about flooding or having to evacuate as you say due to a hurricane. I really want to be as far east in Texas as I can get without being in Lousyana (no insult intended)...Do you know if the upper part of Newton county is a little more rolling than the southern part of the county. I am somewhat caught in the middle as to how far north I want to go. I like living where I can grow citus and palm trees but at the same time I understand I am going to have to give on one thing to get another, we can't have everything so if push came to shove I would rather live on slightly higher ground than have to deal with a hurricane...
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Old 05-25-2011, 01:49 PM
 
Location: League City
3,842 posts, read 8,268,773 times
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Yeah I can understand about the state to the east. I once had a job in Lake Charles.

I don't think any of Newton Co has hills. But really I've only been around Newton, Jasper, Deweyville. Now Jasper got blitzed by Rita. We fled to Longview, and when we drove back to Orange (through Jasper and Newton Co) it was a war zone. My parents fled to an area near Jasper, and they were scared for their lives when the storm blew by even though there really wasn't any flooding. If you want rolling E. Tx. hills, I think you need to start looking around Tyler, but not 100% sure where it starts. Around that area Rita fizzled out to just a bad thunderstorm.
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Old 05-25-2011, 02:07 PM
 
3 posts, read 6,987 times
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Default Daniel,

I know a lady over by Colmesneil who raises British White cattle (same breed as I raise) and she said between her and Chester there was some beautiful rolling hills. I saw 611 acres for sale close to Chester off Hwy 287 at a good price and was hoping to look at the area if we had time. So I may take a quick swing thru Newton and Jasper county and then as you say take a look at lower Tyler county and see if that is an area more suited to our taste. I know from what she told me and you also confirmed was that they went to Lufkin for most of their shopping and when they wanted a bigger city they went to Houston or Beaumont. Well thank you for all your input, it was most helpful and hopefully in the near future I can call East Texas home...God bless and thanks again...
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Old 05-25-2011, 02:35 PM
 
Location: A little suburb of Houston
3,702 posts, read 18,215,075 times
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I would look a little farther north for rolling hills....if you want to stay east, try Carthage. Not too aweful far from Shreveport if you want to do serious shopping. Also has some good cattle and growing country with plenty of trees.
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Old 05-25-2011, 04:03 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
16,787 posts, read 49,063,260 times
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I'm not familiar with the area but thought it would be interesting to see what useful information I could find.

Demographics, weather charts, etc. for Newton, TX http://www.city-data.com/city/Newton-Texas.html

Similar information for Newton County http://www.city-data.com/county/Newton_County-TX.html

Some parts of the area should be pretty hilly given the range of elevation change in that area. Texas Topo Map - TX Topographical Map

Check out the topographic maps for Newton County here: Texas Topographic Maps - Perry-Castañeda Map Collection - UT Library Online
Looks to me like the topography ranges from 70' in the SE to 250' in the NW.

Map of soil types for Jasper and Newton County General Soil Map, Jasper and Newton Counties, Texas: The Portal to Texas History

Soil Survey & crop information Jasper and Newton County Soil Survey of Jasper and Newton Counties, Texas : The Portal to Texas History

More soil maps and information for Texas http://www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov/soil/

Portal for Texas History listings for Newton County "newton county" — The Portal to Texas History

Texas State Historical Association listings for Newton County Search | Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)

Historic weather information Newton, TX Intellicast - Newton Historic Weather Averages in Texas (75966)
I counted about 46" of rain per year average.

Wiki entry Newton County Newton County, Texas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pipeline awareness website: http://pipeline-safety.org/where/ (broken link)

Oil and gas pipeline maps. Railroad Commission of Texas - Introduction

Last edited by CptnRn; 05-25-2011 at 04:48 PM..
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