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 August 18, 2008 | Sabine County Courthouse Texas County Courthouse Project #41: Sabine County (Hemphill, Texas) Sabine County was created on December 14, 1837 and named for the Sabine River that forms the eastern sate line between Texas and Louisiana. Both the Spanish and French claimed the land along the Sabine as theirs, but it was the Spanish name for the river that lasted. Named Río de Sabinas by Domingo Ramón in 1716, the name comes from the Spanish word Sabinas which refers to the cypress trees that grow along the river. The original county seat was located in Milam, but when it was proven that it was not the geographical center of the county (off by a little over six miles), it was moved to a newly surveyed town named Hemphill. Hemphill is named for John Hemphill, a Republic of Texas Supreme Court Justice, he participated in both the Council House Fight in San Antonio and the Somerville Expedition. He was elected to replace Sam Houston in the United States Senate until he was expelled at the start of the Civil War. During the war he served in the Provisional Confederate Congress in Montgomery, Alabama. The Sabine County courthouse was built in 1906, complete with a dome and clock tower. Just three years later the dome and tower were destroyed in a fire and were never replaced. Next to the courthouse is a 1903 jail that was used for eighty years and now serves as a museum. We toured the museum and my son Jake found an old chair that was just calling his name. 
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