Where does East Texas start?

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by tstone

Everything east of I-35 has more in common with the east than west. The ''subtropical climate'' extends even further west than that.

This is very true about the sub-tropical climate! It probably ends somewhere west of the Wichita Falls/Vernon area. Maybe about Quanah. That is to say, when the "elevation" begins to quickly steepen toward the "caprock" area of West Texas. This is why east of that locale, places such Wichita Falls, Vernon, etc are prime "Tornado country". That warm, humid, Gulf air is abundant, and very affected when the cold fronts and dryline interacts with it...

[TexasReb]

I guess ONE way to measure where "East Texas" begins, whether travelling west to east or south to north, is by where the names of business start to include the term most often! LOL That is to say, when "North Texas Realty" fades into "East Texas Realty." Or "Gulf Coast Auto Sales" gets replaced by "East Texas Auto Sales"!

Of course, I am being a little silly here, but I believe there really IS something to it. That is, the validity of a region being defined by "perception".

My usual destination to visit and vacation in East Texas is the Jefferson/Caddo Lake area, and I have taken many routes over the years. My favorite one, up until a few years ago, was to take 287 to Decatur, then 360 thru Denton until you linked up with Hwy 69 to Greenville and on down to Mineola and Tyler to hit I-20 East. And it is that old "driving experience" that always made me put the "nailhead" between North and East Texas as just the other side of Greenville. It just seemed that just east of there, the trees seemed to get taller and, more than that, the whole "moodscape" seemed to change from that vibrance of North Texas into the gentle fatalism of East Texas. If that makes sense!

But alas, the 380 path thru Denton to 69 is a thing of the past now. Mainly because over the years it got to be that once you got to Denton, you never left the "city" until you almost GOT to Greenville. Too many red lights, etc, etc. The tentacles of the golden triangle had really almost extended out that far! *sighs*

Nowdays, I just take 82 and hit 69 the other side of Sherman!

[ScotchTX]

I wouldn't call Houston "East Texas", but I might place Vidor in that category. Really, when I think of East Texas, I am thinking of the Tyler-Mineola area, but realize Lufkin/Nacadoches is East Texas as well.

I live in Brazos County(Bryan/College Station) and we neither think of ourselves as East Texas or Central Texas, though if you had to pidgeon hole us I'd bet most would say "Central".

I know someone who lives in Halletsville and considers it "South Texas", but the RGV is still anouther four hours south. Texas is just so big it makes for some ambiguous regions.