Groveton is the county seat for Trinity County. and at the intersection of State Highway 94 and U.S. Highway 287, near the center of the county. The community was established in 1881, when the Trinity County and Sabine Pass Land and Railway Company built a lumber mill on the south side of its newly laid track and plotted a townsite on the north side. Company director William S. Peters proposed the name Grovetown because of a stand of blackjack trees between the mill and the town; residents almost immediately shortened it to Groveton. In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps began reforestation in the area, and the Work Projects Administrtion made possible much construction in Groveton, including a new county jail, Groveton High School, and a gymnasium. In the 1980s Groveton was once again a lumbering center and had become a gateway to the recreation areas of the Davy Crockett National Forest. It was also a retail center for Trinity County, as well as a center for small manufacturing.