Emergency Biohazard Cleanup Near Onalaska Historic District Onalaska, TX

Onalaska is a city in western Polk County, Texas, situated on a peninsula extending into Lake Livingston about 90 miles north of Houston, with the motto 'The Heart of Lake Livingston.'

Onalaska was settled around 1840 during the Republic of Texas period and was developed by William Carlisle about 1905 as a sawmill town.

By 1908 Onalaska had a depot, a bank, a hotel, an electric power plant, and a population of about 2,000, but after the sawmill was dismantled by 1913 the town faded to only about eighty residents by the late 1940s.

The completion of Lake Livingston in 1968 revived Onalaska's economy through recreation, retirement settlement, and real estate, growing its rated businesses from just two in 1961 to twenty-eight by 1984.

Onalaska residents voted 45 to 18 to incorporate on July 12, 1971, and the community was first declared a town before later being designated a city.

Onalaska's population climbed from 1,174 in 2000 to 3,020 at the 2020 census, reflecting its growth as a lakeside community.

The Beaumont and Great Northern Railway reached Onalaska from Trinity County by 1907 and was extended to Livingston the following year, fueling its original timber boom.