Exploring Sand Flat: A Historic African-American Community in Rains County
Published: November 18, 2004
Sand Flat is a small rural community located on Farm Road 275 about two miles north of Emory in north central Rains County. It began as an African-American farming settlement, probably during the late 1800s or early 1900s, and was named for the region's flat and sandy terrain. Marked graves in the local cemetery, called the Prairie Grove Cemetery, date back to the 1880s. A school operated in the early 1900s, and in 1922 citizens constructed a new building in part with grant money furnished by the Julius Rosenwald Fund. The four-classroom, white frame structure served African-American students until desegregation in the 1960s. The building still appeared on maps in the 1980s. Nearby Prairie Grove Baptist Church served area residents. In 2000 Sand Flat had a population of 100.
Bibliography:
Places:
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Laurie E. Jasinski, “Sand Flat, TX (Rains County),” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/sand-flat-tx-rains-county.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
HLSAD
- November 18, 2004
