Come join the excitement of what visitors see and say while shopping in the National Register Downtown Historic Square. (Historic Downtown Walking Tour Maps) Henderson has the most picturesque downtown square in East Texas. Upscale shopping, eateries, antiques, floral, dolls, custom jewelry and more are found in our downtown! Henderson also has a variety of restaurants and shopping on Highway U.S. 79/259, the main artery though town. Enjoy spending a few days in Henderson.

Henderson, Texas was designated the county seat of Rusk County when it was formed in 1843. The downtown business district was laid out around the courthouse square. Henderson grew into an important commercial, cultural and governmental center for the area. The first building was built in 1838. The downtown has maintained it?s integrity through the tragic fire of 1860, which destroyed most of the businesses in the area, the Civil War Reconstruction, the oil boom of the 1930?s and the oil bust of the 1980?s. In 1988, Henderson was designated a Texas Main Street Project City. The City and State made a commitment to improve the downtown area and encourage economic development through renovation of the historic buildings and recruitment of new businesses. Today the unique character of Downtown has been preserved and the area has new life.