Biohazard Cleanup Near Commerce Historic District Commerce, TX

Commerce was founded in 1872, when two merchants, William Jernigan and Josiah Jackson, established a trading post and mercantile store on the rich blackland prairie of northeast Hunt County.

Commerce incorporated in 1885 and is the second-largest city in Hunt County, located about 65 miles northeast of Dallas between the Middle and South Sulphur rivers.

Commerce had 9,090 residents in the 2020 census, with about 3,106 households and a small average household size of 2.24 people, reflecting its large student population.

Commerce is home to East Texas A&M University, which has operated in the city since 1894 and enrolls more than 12,000 students — more students than the city itself has residents.

Commerce's university began as East Texas Normal College, which educator William L. Mayo moved from Cooper to Commerce in 1894 after the original campus in Cooper burned down; Mayo served as its president until his death in 1917 and is buried on campus.

Commerce is one of the smallest college towns in Texas, and its university — long known as Texas A&M University–Commerce — anchors the local economy.

Commerce was named the "Bois d'Arc Capital of Texas" by the Texas Legislature because it sits in the geographic center of the native range of the bois d'arc (Osage orange) tree.

Commerce is served by KETR, a public radio station founded in 1975 that broadcasts from the university campus to Hunt County and surrounding communities.

Commerce students attend the Commerce Independent School District, which operates four primary and secondary school campuses in the city.