Wife and I are seriously considering moving to the Nac/Lufikin area. We've visited several times but only on quick weekends. How is the everyday life out there? Hunting any good? We attended Harmony Hills Church once and have listened on YouTube. Just looking for some tips on good vs not so good things in the area.
Thanks in advance

Lived there 12 years in Nac and loved it. Lufkin is a little bigger but with Nac being a college town it offers more IMO. Deer are good. Lots of good lakes to fish with Naconiche and Nacogdoches in town and Rayburn less that an hour. Lots of public land with Angelina and Sabine national forest - Lufkin will put you closer to the forests and Rayburn

Lived in Tyler for 3 years but was in Nac/lufkin all the time for work. Both really nice areas, but I would probably pick Nac over lufkin

Aaahhhhh NacoNowhere, land behind the pine curtain. Went to school there after leaving A and M. Lived there several years after graduating. Stephen F Austin just got sucked into the tu system, and the students are the middle class in Nacogdoches. Economically there is nearly nothing but the school in Nacogdoches and thus the businesses reflect that demographic. Lufkin has the industry but it has been struggling of late. However the new interstate 69 is going to reverse some of that with trade. Land is fairly reasonable still so that helps. Culturally Nacogdoches seems to be more the professional oriented versus more blue collar in Lufkin. Really the two towns are not all that different than say a comparison between Dallas and Ft Worth. Nac being Dallas and Lufkin more like Fort Worth. Even though Lufkin is bigger.

Nothing against either, other than they are smaller, relatively rural, towns; however unless you are pegged down to Nac/Lufikin area for some reason, you might want to consider Tyler. It's got a lot of the amenities of a large city (shopping, restaurants, medical hub, university, lots of churches and neighborhoods to choose from) without a lot of the downsides (crime, traffic, etc.). Also a lot of surrounding rural area and some great lakes.

Moved to the rural Nacogdoches county area around '81 or '82. If you like to fish, several lake options- Rayburn, Lake Nac, Naconiche and not that far from Pinkston or Lake Fork. Lots of public hunting acreage and timber company land for leasing. Lufkin is bigger (slightly) and has more and better options for eating out. Several nice places for sale around where I live. Not sure what all the work options would be- fixing to retire from the mill I started at in 1986. Lufkin took a big hit several years ago with the closing of the paper mill and then Lufkin Industries. Best thing is just over two hours from the mother land for Saturday football, unless you stop at Buccees in Madisonville.

Did you work at paper mill? I thought they permanently shutdown ~10 years ago. I'm good friends with the mill manager who managed it after the shutdown - he came to work with me down at the Evadale mill

AgDad121619 said:

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Did you work at paper mill? I thought they permanently shutdown ~10 years ago. I'm good friends with the mill manager who managed it after the shutdown - he came to work with me down at the Evadale mill

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Ahhh, the smell of money at a papermill is almost as sweet as the smell of green veneer being dried in a plywood plant.

I'd recommend Diboll as a nice place to live

ABATTBQ87 said:

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AgDad121619 said:

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Did you work at paper mill? I thought they permanently shutdown ~10 years ago. I'm good friends with the mill manager who managed it after the shutdown - he came to work with me down at the Evadale mill

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Ahhh, the smell of money at a papermill is almost as sweet as the smell of green veneer being dried in a plywood plant.

I'd recommend Diboll as a nice place to live

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tried to get a job at the Diboll plant so I didn't have to drive to Evadale shortly after relocating to Nac. Apparently the paper mill smell of money >> than green veneer. The guys at the plant tried to slide my interview under the radar but HR across the road caught wind and had me come by. basically quoted my current salary as not something that they could pay. Still think thst lady made a call to mill HR. lol

I did learn that the composite board machine is just a really slow paper machine

RM76 said:

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Nothing against either, other than they are smaller, relatively rural, towns; however unless you are pegged down to Nac/Lufikin area for some reason, you might want to consider Tyler. It's got a lot of the amenities of a large city (shopping, restaurants, medical hub, university, lots of churches and neighborhoods to choose from) without a lot of the downsides (crime, traffic, etc.). Also a lot of surrounding rural area and some great lakes.

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That first sentence is exactly why they are appealing and more appealing than Tyler.

AgDad121619 said:

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ABATTBQ87 said:

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AgDad121619 said:

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Did you work at paper mill? I thought they permanently shutdown ~10 years ago. I'm good friends with the mill manager who managed it after the shutdown - he came to work with me down at the Evadale mill

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Ahhh, the smell of money at a papermill is almost as sweet as the smell of green veneer being dried in a plywood plant.

I'd recommend Diboll as a nice place to live

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tried to get a job at the Diboll plant so I didn't have to drive to Evadale shortly after relocating to Nac. Apparently the paper mill smell of money >> than green veneer. The guys at the plant tried to slide my interview under the radar but HR across the road caught wind and had me come by. basically quoted my current salary as not something that they could pay. Still think thst lady made a call to mill HR. lol

I did learn that the composite board machine is just a really slow paper machine

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I worked for Champion down in Camden at both the plywood and sawmill

ABATTBQ87 said:

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AgDad121619 said:

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ABATTBQ87 said:

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AgDad121619 said:

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Did you work at paper mill? I thought they permanently shutdown ~10 years ago. I'm good friends with the mill manager who managed it after the shutdown - he came to work with me down at the Evadale mill

---

Ahhh, the smell of money at a papermill is almost as sweet as the smell of green veneer being dried in a plywood plant.

I'd recommend Diboll as a nice place to live

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tried to get a job at the Diboll plant so I didn't have to drive to Evadale shortly after relocating to Nac. Apparently the paper mill smell of money >> than green veneer. The guys at the plant tried to slide my interview under the radar but HR across the road caught wind and had me come by. basically quoted my current salary as not something that they could pay. Still think thst lady made a call to mill HR. lol

I did learn that the composite board machine is just a really slow paper machine

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I worked for Champion down in Camden at both the plywood and sawmill

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I worked for Southland Paper at their Sheldon mill for a year ('76-'77). They had two newsprint machines and one kraft paper machine. Started out in the basement "hauling broke" and was a roll handler on the machine floor when I left. My wife had a really hard time getting that sour smell out of my clothes when I was slogging away in the basement.

S.A. Aggie said:

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Wife and I are seriously considering moving to the Nac/Lufikin area. We've visited several times but only on quick weekends. How is the everyday life out there? Hunting any good? We attended Harmony Hills Church once and have listened on YouTube. Just looking for some tips on good vs not so good things in the area.
Thanks in advance

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If you have kids do your due diligence on schools. Fishing is fantastic up there. I would move up there in a heartbeat but most of my family is in S Texas. It's quiet, beautiful and the weather is not so extreme as S Tx. Not to say it can't get hot and humid.

I live in Nacogdoches currently. Pretty decent public hunting in Davy Crockett NF and Angelina NF, as well as Alazan WMA and Alabama Creek WMA. Great fishing in the lakes in the area. Naconiche, Rayburn, Toledo, lake Nac are all exceptional fishing.

I went to work for International Paper back in 1986 when the plywood mill that had burned to the ground rose from the ashes like a Phoenix as an OSB mill. We were bought by Norbord in 2002 and then by West Fraser in the spring of 2021. Haven't hunted public land in years, but spent lots of time on Alazan Bayou WMA, Bannister WMA, and the national forest. Fished the northern end of Rayburn for most of 15 years, Lake Nac for almost as long, then got deep into deer hunting and deer leases- have three timber company leases and also manage another private property lease.

Russ79 said:

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I went to work for International Paper back in 1986 when the plywood mill that had burned to the ground rose from the ashes like a Phoenix as an OSB mill. We were bought by Norbord in 2002 and then by West Fraser in the spring of 2021. Haven't hunted public land in years, but spent lots of time on Alazan Bayou WMA, Bannister WMA, and the national forest. Fished the northern end of Rayburn for most of 15 years, Lake Nac for almost as long, then got deep into deer hunting and deer leases- have three timber company leases and also manage another private property lease.

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We had some of those plywood guys working at Champion late 80s

I live in nac and have since 92. Other than going to A&M at least.

Great place to live overall. I live on 182 acres and 8 minute drive to office. High speed internet too. Hard to beat that!

Would be glad to visit sometime or have dinner. First Baptist Nacogdoches is where we go to church. Highly recommend.

I understand that reasoning, I was there myself for many years, but a lot of those folks there end up in either Tyler or Houston for medical care, especially as one gets older. Many also end up in Tyler for shopping, especially around the holidays, ha.

ABATTBQ87 said:

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AgDad121619 said:

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Did you work at paper mill? I thought they permanently shutdown ~10 years ago. I'm good friends with the mill manager who managed it after the shutdown - he came to work with me down at the Evadale mill

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Ahhh, the smell of money at a papermill is almost as sweet as the smell of green veneer being dried in a plywood plant.

I'd recommend Diboll as a nice place to live

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biggest complaint with Diboll is it is a speed trap town. Hate to deal with that every day. Huntington is the same issue but only 5 minutes from Lufkin and closer to lake / national forests

My cousin and her family have lived in Hudson for over 20 years since she graduated from SFA. Her and her husband both teach there and love the area.

Another town to look at is Henderson. Closer to Tyler than Nacogdoches or Lufkin but also smaller than both. I worked the ER there for several years after graduating from SFA and living in Nac while wife at the time finished. I would have moved to Henderson except wife at the time got a job in Houston.

Grew up in Diboll and managed just one ticket but you're not wrong!
Moved away after A&M but wouldn't be opposed to returning to Lufkin/Nac area.

Live in Lufkin now. My wife and I moved here in 2019 from San Antonio for my job and she's been working remotely since 2019. She's from a really small town south of SA but her and I are plotting our move back to the SA area in the next year or two. Lufkin is fine. We've enjoyed it but we're far from everything. We find ourselves going to Houston a lot. We're thinking about moving to the Boerne or Bandera area of SA. She has some family there. She missed the sunsets that she used to see all the time. We don't hunt around here but if you hunt in south Texas or even the hill country, it probably won't compare. We've enjoyed it but only for a limited amount of time and we're ready to get back to the hill country. Here, we're 5 hours from the lake house and 7 hours from our place near Camp Wood. In terms fishing, the lakes here are great. They're hard to beat but I personally prefer sal****er. I love my job here though so it makes it okay.

Get the rolls at Lufkin BBQ

nactownag said:

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I live in nac and have since 92. Other than going to A&M at least.

Great place to live overall. I live on 182 acres and 8 minute drive to office. High speed internet too. Hard to beat that!

Would be glad to visit sometime or have dinner. First Baptist Nacogdoches is where we go to church. Highly recommend.

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I may give you a shout when we're ready to pull the trigger. We live in Boerne right now and it is really blowing up. Buc-ee's is about to break ground on the new location here plus about a dozen or so fast food places are building. Ready to get closer to the grandkids. I'll book mark this and shout out in a few months! I'll be retired but have a Norwood 36" sawmill that I may do some custom milling with but I'm sure portable sawmills are a dime a dozen out there. Not so much in the hill country.

Thanks to everyone for your comments. I appreciate them all.

nactownag said:

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I live in nac and have since 92. Other than going to A&M at least.

Great place to live overall. I live on 182 acres and 8 minute drive to office. High speed internet too. Hard to beat that!

Would be glad to visit sometime or have dinner. First Baptist Nacogdoches is where we go to church. Highly recommend.

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Obligatory username checks out

You and I are just going to trade places.

Shoefly! made the comment but they don't live there, so figured I would direct this to you…how are the schools there? This is the first question my wife asked me about the area. I'm from Tyler and honestly if I lived there now I would be looking at private schools there. Not sure what it's like in Nac or surrounding areas.

I have my kids in private school and wouldn't recommend the public schools unfortunately

I live in Henderson, but work in Nac and Lufkin frequently. All are small East Texas towns. I like them all, but was born and raised in Henderson. If you like the outdoors and are happy with that, any of them are good. Tyler and Longview are closer to Henderson if you are a little older like me and considering the medical facilities. The public land for hunting is closer to Lukin/Nac. Good fishing around all. Are you able to work in one easier than the others? I would prefer private over public schools in all three. Tyler and Longview have some good private schools. I sent my daughter to Tyler and my granddaughters will start there next year.

As far as schools, all I know is what I have heard. Full disclosure- no first hand knowledge since I don't have any kids. I do have several friends that are school teachers- two at Nac High and one at Woden. All three are great people and I figure are good teachers but school systems can have good teachers and be a not so good school system. Woden, I have heard, had a good reputation for being a good school and have heard the same for Central Heights, which is just a couple of miles north of Nacogdoches. I will say that there are some really nice places for sale in the Woden area right now.

Yeah I grew up in Nac and all my friends there have figured out ways to get their kids into private schools or non-nac ISDs. Central Heights, Woden, even Garrison, Martinsville, and Cushing. NISD has been a tire fire for decades and I doubt it's gotten any better lately. Sad, because SFA's bread and butter is their education dept and isn't bad at it at all.

I am about to retire and buy a home near Sam Rayburn. Traffic in the Austin - San Antonio corridor is not for old men. Medical care is probably not as good but I am not going to live forever anyway and really don't want to die in a traffic jam.

Sgt. Hartman said:

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I am about to retire and buy a home near Sam Rayburn. Traffic in the Austin - San Antonio corridor is not for old men. Medical care is probably not as good but I am not going to live forever anyway and really don't want to die in a traffic jam.

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great place to retire to - I would suggest the area between the lakes - RR255 connects the two lakes and lots of national forest in between. And the river below Toledo Bend is a fantastic float that rarely has any traffic on it. Water off of the bottom of the dam so it is clear unlike most of the east Texas muddy rivers and has great river bass fishing

All 4 of my kids went through Nac with the last one graduating in 2O15 so nearly 10 years ago. School suffers like most for holding kids accountable for language and behavior. It was roughly 33% for black/ Hispanic/ white from a demographics standpoint.

All my kids were college ready at graduation but it certainly had room for being more challenging - with SFA in town it offered both college credit and dual enrollment classes but if your kids are competing for class rank the dual enrollment was not treated as an honors class even though it was a better class ( calculus for example) for college prep.

As mentioned there are smaller schools available that were probably better for discipline that has lead to a lot of migration away from Nac. Don't know the woke factor given we haven't been there in a long time but would expect it is worse mirroring society today.