History of Gun Barrel City, Texas

Gun Barrel City is younger than it looks. Though the land was settled long before, the city itself was incorporated only on May 26, 1969 — and it exists today largely because of a reservoir that did not exist a decade earlier. This is the story of how a rural community, a new lake, and a memorable stretch of road came together to create one of East Texas's most distinctive small towns.

Before the lake: the Old Bethel Community

Long before the marinas and the retail strip, this corner of Henderson County was rural farmland and scattered homesteads known as the Old Bethel Community. Like much of East Texas, it was a quiet, agricultural place, more crossroads than town. There was no reason for a city here — no industry, no lake, no highway pulling in traffic. What changed everything was water.

Cedar Creek Lake creates a town

In the mid-1960s, engineers dammed Cedar Creek and flooded the surrounding lowlands, creating Cedar Creek Lake — a large East Texas reservoir with more than 220 miles of shoreline. The reservoir was built in connection with the Tarrant Regional Water District to supply water to the growing Fort Worth region, but its impact on Henderson County was immediate and local.

Almost overnight, waterfront land that had been farmland became valuable recreational property. Weekenders from Dallas–Fort Worth came for the boating and fishing. Second homes and lakeside communities sprang up along the new shoreline. And a community that had drifted along for generations suddenly had a reason to organize, incorporate, and provide the services a growing lake population demanded.

The lake did not just border Gun Barrel City — it created it. Without the reservoir completed in the mid-1960s, there would have been little reason for a town to incorporate here at all.

Incorporation in 1969 — and the beer-and-wine angle

Gun Barrel City was incorporated on May 26, 1969, growing directly out of the Old Bethel Community. As is often the case with the origins of small Texas towns, the reasons for incorporation were practical. A commonly cited motivation was the ability to legally sell beer and wine — a meaningful draw in a region where local-option alcohol rules varied from place to place, and a genuine convenience for a lake economy built around weekend recreation and lakeside dining.

That origin story fits the town's straight-talking character. Incorporation gave residents the power to govern themselves, collect sales tax, license businesses, and shape the growth that the lake was already driving. It was a pragmatic decision by people who wanted their new community to work.

From lake town to regional retail hub

Once incorporated, Gun Barrel City grew into the commercial center of the Cedar Creek Lake area. Its position on State Highway 198 — the original "Gun Barrel Lane" — and later along the State Highway 334 commercial strip made it the natural place for lake-area residents and visitors to shop the retail hub, eat, and stock up.

That role still defines the city today. The year-round population, about 6,190 as of the 2020 Census (up from 5,672 in 2010), understates the town's true reach. During boating season — Memorial Day through Labor Day — the population swells to more than 10,000, and the stores, restaurants, and marinas that serve the whole lake keep the local economy humming. Gun Barrel City became, and remains, the place the lake goes to get things done.

The town's business-friendly posture reinforced that growth. Gun Barrel City charges no city property tax, and its Economic Development Corporation (EDC) — funded by a quarter-cent sales tax — has worked to recruit manufacturing, medical services, hospitality, and distribution. In 2008, the city was designated a Texas Certified Retirement Community, formalizing an appeal to retirees that the lake, the mild climate, and the low cost of living had already created.

The teenage mayor who put the town on the map

For a small lake town, Gun Barrel City has enjoyed an outsized moment in the national spotlight. Around 2000 to 2001, Randal Tye Thomas became the city's mayor while still a teenager, drawing coverage from national media including NPR's This American Life and Texas Monthly.

The story of a teenage mayor leading a town with a name like "Gun Barrel City" was irresistible to journalists, and it briefly made the community a national curiosity. For residents, it was a reminder of something the town had always understood about itself: that its unusual name and unpretentious character are assets, not embarrassments — and that a small place can command attention when its story is good enough.

A quick timeline

• Before the 1960s — Rural Henderson County settlement known as the Old Bethel Community.
• Mid-1960s — Cedar Creek is dammed, creating Cedar Creek Lake and transforming the local economy.
• May 26, 1969 — Gun Barrel City is incorporated; legally selling beer and wine is a commonly cited motivation.
• 1970s–1990s — Growth into the retail and commercial hub for the Cedar Creek Lake area.
• ~2000–2001 — Teenage mayor Randal Tye Thomas draws national media attention.
• 2008 — Designated a Texas Certified Retirement Community.
• 2020 — Census records 6,190 residents.

To understand where the name itself came from, read Why Is It Called Gun Barrel City? And to see the reservoir that made the town possible, explore Cedar Creek Lake.