Rusk, Texas
Rusk is a city in Cherokee County in the East Texas Piney Woods, roughly 39 miles southeast of Tyler amid rolling, heavily forested hill country. It is the eastern terminus of the Texas State Railroad, a state park where a historic steam train runs through the pines between Rusk and Palestine, and the town has long been associated with timber and railroad heritage.
Place essentials
Official Census snapshot- Census place type
- City
- July 2025 population
- 5,568
- Change from 2020 base
- +3.1%
- Land area
- 7.2 sq. mi.
- County footprint
- Cherokee 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 Cherokee 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 Rusk
County lines carry much of the property, land, water, and outdoors context around Rusk.
Historic Railroad
The Texas State Railroad Runs Through Cherokee County
The Texas State Railroad, originally built in 1893 to support a state prison and iron ore operations near Rusk, is now a heritage railway attraction.
Property Tax Basics
One Office Appraises Your Property. Another Collects the Tax.
The Cherokee County Appraisal District sets your property value; separate taxing units bill and collect the tax.
County History
Cherokee County Was Named for the People Who Were Forced Out of It
Cherokee County was established in 1846 from Nacogdoches County and takes its name from the Cherokee people who lived in the region before being expelled in 1839.
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