Historic Sour Lake is a city in Hardin County. It was originally named Sour Lake Springs, after the sulphurous water that flowed into the nearby lake. Steeped in a long history, Sour Lake began as a health resort in the 1840s complete with a grand hotel and bath houses. Sam Houston came several times to Sour Lake springs seeking relief from his war wounds.

Since sulphur was a sign of the crude oil in the area, after the discovery of a massive oil field in nearby Spindletop area, naturally drillers came to Sour Lake.The discovery of oil in 1902 in the area doomed the grand hotels and mineral baths. An oil rush ensued, with a vast tent city of workers and a forest of derricks dotting the once peaceful plains. All the pumping caused the ground to subside and the springs disappeared.

The derrick The Texas Company Fee No. 3 on January 8, 1903 would be the start of the world oil giant Texaco. The Sour Lake oilfield produced about 90,000,000 barrels of oil up to 1948, when it was producing about 3,500 barrels daily and new drilling was still underway. Today the springs are gone but oil remains.

The town has numerous murals around the town.

Sour Lake is one of the gateways to the Big Thicket National Preserve.