Texarkana, two cities forming a single community, lying on both sides of the border between southwestern Arkansas and northeastern Texas. Texarkana, Arkansas (incorporated 1880), is the seat of Miller County, and Texarkana, Texas (incorporated 1874), is in Bowie County. Texarkana is a commercial center and shipping point of a wide area in both states and an important industrial and lumbering center. Manufactures include tires, tank cars, wood products, pipe valves, furniture, and foodstuffs. Each of the two cities has a separate municipal government. Texarkana, Texas, is the seat of East Texas State University at Texarkana (1971) and a junior college. The site of the cities, a traditional junction of major travel routes, was occupied by the Caddo people when visited by the explorers Hernando de Soto in 1542 and René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, in 1687. The French established a trading post in the vicinity in 1719. Permanent settlement of the area began in the 1840s. The community was platted in 1873 at the junction of two railroad lines. Its name is derived from the three states, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana, whose borders meet nearby. Population of Texarkana, Arkansas 21,459 (1980); 22,631 (1990); 26,448 (2000). Population of Texarkana, Texas 31,271 (1980); 31,656 (1990); 34,782 (2000).
