Onalaska is located on Farm Road 356, US 190, 90 miles north of Houston by Lake Livingston between Huntsville and Livingston in western Polk County, Texas. The city has a total area of 2.2 square miles and already reached a population of 2,755 in 2017. The City of Onalaska is served by the Onalaska Independent School District. Onalaska came from an old Aleutian Indian word, “Unalaska,” meaning “dwelling together harmoniously” and it was named by a lumberman, William Carlisle, in 1905 during the Republic of Texas period. He named it after the older mill town of Onalaska, Arkansas where he also operated. His successful lumber mill attracted the creation of a railroad by the Beaumont and Great Northern Railway in 1907. Later on, the sawmill was purchased by the West Lumber Company in 1909. Floods coming from the Trinity River and the cutting out of local timber resulted in the dilapidation of the mill which was eventually closed in 1913. The Carlisle Family also helped the community's development by building Polk County’s first concrete sidewalk. They also helped built churches, hospitals, post office, school, and other amenities for the sawmill families. Also, the completion of Lake Livingston in 1968, somewhat boosted their local economy because of the added recreational opportunities it afforded.
Are you a customer or the owner/manager of the business you'd like to add?
