Kerens Texas

Kerens is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,681 at the 2000 census.

Kerens was established in 1881 when the St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas was built through the county, according to the Texas Handbook of History, and was named for Judge R. C. Kerens of St. Louis. The railroad bypassed the nearby settlement of Wadeville, and within a short time all of the businesses from Wadeville moved to the new town. By the mid-1890s, the handbook said, the town had three cotton gin-mills, four grocery stores, two hotels, two drug stores, a wagonmaker, and a weekly newspaper named the Navarro Blade. Kerens is a growing and friendly Central Texas city conveniently situated between Corsicana and Athens on SH 31. The city lies about 70 miles southeast of downtown Dallas and some 180 miles from Houston..

One of the city’s most well-known hometown boys is Big Tex. He now stands on the grounds of the State Fair of Texas and greets visitors from around the world. But Big Tex started life in Kerens as the world’s largest Santa Claus.

He was built and erected by local citizens and stood in the middle of Colket Avenue, the Kerens main street during the years of 1948 and 1949. From there he warmly welcomed passersby during the holidays. After two years, however, he was adopted by the State Fair of Texas and became Big Tex.

Lonestar RV Parks is located approximately 22 miles from Kerens via TX-31E and TX-274N