Gallatin

History

The area was first settled in the late 1840s, but a community did not develop until 1902, when the Texas and New Orleans Railroad (T&NO) was built through the area. John W. Chandler and his sister, Sophronia, who owned the surrounding land, asked Rusk attorney C. H. Martin to survey a townsite. Chandler named the new town Gallatin, after his hometown of Gallatin, Tennessee(which in turn had been named for Albert Gallatin). The new community, located in a large truck-farming area, quickly developed into a market for tomatoes and other produce. The construction in 1907 of a branch line of the T&NO between Gallatin and Rusk further enhanced the town as a shipping center. By 1914, Gallatin had a population of 350, several churches, two general stores, a drugstore, a school, and a cotton gin. In 1916, virtually the entire business district was destroyed by fire, but the town was quickly rebuilt, and as late as the mid-1930s, it reported 500 residents and five businesses. After World War II, the community steadily declined. Its school was consolidated with the Rusk schools in the 1950s, and many of the town's businesses closed. The population declined to 350 by the early 1950s, and in 1990, only 171 residents and two stores were reported there. Nevertheless, Gallatin was incorporated in the early 1980s. In 1991, it had an estimated population of 382 and three businesses. In 2000, its population was 378 with four businesses.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  559
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  433
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  396
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  385
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  375
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  347
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  294
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  276

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2026-05-18
  5 km NNW of Huntington, Texas
• M 3.5 — 2025-03-29
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• M 2.6 — 2024-05-04
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• M 3 — 2024-04-02
  5 km WSW of Chireno, Texas
• M 3.1 — 2021-12-29
  12 km W of Nacogdoches, Texas
• M 2.5 — 2020-03-23
  6 km NW of Timpson, Texas