Hooks, TX

Hooks is on U.S. Highway 82 and the Texas Northeastern Railroad thirteen miles west of Texarkana in eastern Bowie County. The town grew up around Warren Hooks's plantation in the late 1830s. Rail service began in 1876. A post office opened in 1884 with James Smith as postmaster. By 1890 the town had three churches, a school, two sawmills, a hotel, and 250 residents. By 1914 it had a bank and a weekly newspaper, the Hooks Herald, published by M. W. West; the population had reached 400. The population declined to 100 by 1925, but a boom in the late 1920s raised it to 350 by 1929. By 1936 it was again reported as 100. Shortly before the United States entered World War II, two large military installations, the Red River Army Depot and the Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant, were constructed just south of the town, spurring growth dramatically. By 1940 the population was reported as 800, and by 1950 it had risen to 2,319, where it remained stable. In 1980 Hooks had a population of 2,507. Most of the labor force was employed at the two military installations. In 1990 the population was 2,684. In 2000 the town had 111 businesses and 2,973 inhabitants.