The city that serves as Texas's forestry headquarters

Food & Drink · Published 9 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Lufkin, Texas, is more than just a railroad stop or a hub for industrial manufacturing. It serves as the administrative heart of the state's vast wilderness, housing the headquarters for all four of Texas's National Forests and two of its National Grasslands.

Lufkin's identity is deeply intertwined with the timber and forestry industries of Deep East Texas. Established in 1882 as a railway station for the Houston, East and West Texas line, the town's financial history split into three periods: the railroad age, the timber boom, and the 'golden era of expansion.' Between 1890 and 1920, the Angelina County Lumber Company emerged during the timber boom. This enterprise, spearheaded by families like the Kurths, Hendersons, and Wieners, established the region as a powerhouse of lumber production, operating nearly a dozen sawmills at its peak.

This industrial legacy continues to shape the city's modern economy. Today, Lufkin is a hub for specialized manufacturing, hosting companies like Lufkin Industries and Lufkin Gears LLC, which produce oil field and power transmission equipment. The Atkinson Candy Company, which produced the Chick-O-Stick, and the regional grocery firm Brookshire Brothers both maintain their corporate offices here. Furthermore, the city is a significant employer in the food sector, housing the poultry processor Pilgrim's, which employs more than 1,500 people.

Beyond its industrial output, Lufkin acts as a critical steward of Texas's natural resources. This location contains the administrative hubs for the Sabine, Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, and Angelina National Forests, plus the Lyndon B. Johnson and Caddo National Grasslands. Johnson National Grasslands. This concentration of federal land management highlights Lufkin's role as a primary gateway to the state's protected wilderness, balancing its history as a center of extraction with its current role in conservation and land management.

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