Rains County was founded in 1870 with our county seat in Emory, Texas. We are situated  between two lakes, bordered on the west by Lake Tawakoni, the catfish capital, and on the  east by Lake Fork, the bass fishing capital. These lakes offer exceptional sailing, boating,  fishing, for outdoors enthusiasts, as well as numerous parks and abundant other recreational  opportunities in the growing cities of East Tawakoni, Emory, and Point.

 To help protect and preserve the American Bald Eagle, the 74th Texas Legislature passed a resolution declaring Rains County “The Eagle Capital of Texas”. The proclamation notes the importance of Lake Fork, Lake Tawakoni and surrounding areas as nesting and feeding grounds for the Bald Eagles. Bald Eagles ruled the skies on seven-foot (two-meter) wingspans when 17th-century Europeans arrived in North America. Throughout the continent, half a million bald eagles may have soared. But settlers blamed them for killing livestock, so shooting began—and the proud birds' numbers began to plunge.In the lower 48 states the birds fared much worse. The Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940 prohibited shooting or otherwise harming the birds in the U.S. but didn't cover the pesticides that within a decade began to destroy eagles' eggs. By the 1960s only about 400 breeding pairs of bald eagles remained in the lower 48. "The trend . . . may well make it necessary for us to find a new national emblem," Rachel Carson warned in her 1962 masterwork, Silent Spring. The banning of DDT in 1972 and other measures launched an amazing comeback by the eagles, whose status changed from endangered to threatened in 1995. Today, with more than 6,000 breeding pairs, bald eagles may soon be taken off the endangered species list entirely. Rains County has recorded 260 different species and varieties of wild birds both regional and migratory.

 The fourth smallest of the Lone Star State's 254 counties, Rains is home to people who demonstrate Texas-sized heart and spirit.

 A variety of historic homes, modern sub-divisions, large ranches and much sought-after  acreage invite visitors looking for a home town. 60 miles from Dallas, affordable business  and commercial sites have easy access to the DFW Metroplex and other key transportation  modes and arteries. The terrain varies from flat black land prairies to gentle rolling hills to sandy wooded enclaves which serve as a gateway to the Piney Woods of East Texas.