 shelby county is a county located in the far eastern portion of the u.s. state of texas. as of the 2010 census, its population was 25,448. its county seat is center. the county is named for isaac shelby, a soldier in the american revolution who became the first governor of kentucky. shelby county was formerly represented in the texas house of representatives by the center businessman and conservative republican wayne christian. in 2012, christian was defeated for renomination by current representative chris paddie. ==history== shelby county was formed in 1836. it was named for isaac shelby, a soldier from tennessee during the american revolution, and first governor of kentucky. ==geography== according to the u.s. census bureau, the county has a total area of , of which  is land and  (4.8%) is water. ===adjacent counties === *panola county (north) *de soto parish, louisiana (northeast) *sabine parish, louisiana (east) *sabine county (south) *san augustine county (south) *nacogdoches county (southwest) *rusk county (northwest) ===national protected area=== *sabine national forest (part) ==demographics== {{uscensuspop |1850= 4239 |1860= 5362 |1870= 5732 |1880= 9532 |1890= 14365 |1900= 20452 |1910= 26423 |1920= 27464 |1930= 28627 |1940= 29235 |1950= 23479 |1960= 20479 |1970= 19672 |1980= 23084 |1990= 22034 |2000= 25224 |2010= 25448 |estyear=2012 |estimate=26019 |footnote=u.s. decennial census{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decenn
1836_establishments_in_Texas Populated_places_established_in_1836 Shelby_County,_Texas Texas_counties