Discover Bois d'Arc: A Hidden Gem in Rains County


By: Laurie E. Jasinski

Published: October 29, 2004

Bois d'Arc is a tiny rural community located on Lake Tawakoni about eleven miles northwest of Emory in northwestern Rains County. The settlement began by the late 1800s and was named for the bois d'arc trees that were common to the area. In December 1896 Frances Lynch sold two acres for a county school. Bois d'Arc School District #6 operated until 1951, when the school was closed. The property and building were sold back to the community and used for religious and social functions, but the structure was torn down around 1953. The Bois d'Arc Cemetery, known to have existed in the region, became lost to later generations with the completion of Lake Tawakoni by the early 1960s. In the 1990s Bois d'Arc still appeared on highway maps but reported a population of only ten residents. That figure remained constant in 2000.

TSHA is a proud affiliate of University of Texas at Austin
Bois d'Arc School website (http://txgenes.com/txrains/boisschool.htm), accessed September 21, 2004.

Places:

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.

Laurie E. Jasinski, “Bois D'arc, TX (Rains County),” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/bois-darc-tx-rains-county.

Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

TID: HNBAN

October 29, 2004

Find out more about this place from our Texas Almanac.

Place
Bois d'Arc
Currently Exists
Yes
Place Type
Town
USGS ID
2034767
Town Fields
  • Has post office: No
  • Is Incorporated: No
Belongs to
  • Rains County
Coordinates
  • Latitude: 32.91150990°
  • Longitude: -95.95330090°
Population Counts
People Year
6 2014

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