De Kalb, Texas
De Kalb is a city in Bowie County, in the Piney Woods of far northeastern Texas about 70 miles north of Longview. It lies in gently rolling timber and farm country near the Red River, within the Texarkana metropolitan area. The town is remembered as the birthplace of actor Dan Blocker, who played Hoss Cartwright on the television Western Bonanza and is buried in a cemetery there.
Place essentials
Official Census snapshot- Census place type
- City
- July 2025 population
- 1,455
- Change from 2020 base
- -6.1%
- Land area
- 1.4 sq. mi.
- County footprint
- Bowie County
Place type, county footprint, and land area use the Census Bureau's January 1, 2025 geography. Population uses Vintage 2025 estimates through July 1, 2025; change compares that estimate with the April 1, 2020 estimates base. Geography file | Population file
Property here runs through the appraisal district and tax office for Bowie County. The homestead exemption, appraisal cap, protests, and any MUD, PID, or special districts all sit at the parcel level.
Official routes
Use the office for the parcel address; a mailing city is not always the governing city.
County context
What to know around De Kalb
County lines carry much of the property, land, water, and outdoors context around De Kalb.
History
Texarkana's Federal Building straddles the Texas-Arkansas state line
The United States Post Office and Courthouse in downtown Texarkana was built in 1933 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the only federal building in the country that sits in two states at once.
Property tax
Texas raised the school-district homestead exemption to $140,000
Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment in November 2025 that raised the mandatory school-district homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000, retroactive to January 1, 2025.
History / Economy
A WWII military complex in Bowie County is now one of the largest industrial parks in the Americas
The Red River Army Depot and Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant, built on nearly 40,000 acres in Bowie County starting in 1941, shaped the county's growth and now operate in part as TexAmericas Center, a large industrial redevelopment.
Nearby
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