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Texas County
Navarro County, Texas
Corsicana's first Texas oil well and Collin Street Bakery - from the 1894 Corsicana oil discovery (while drilling for water in 1894, workers struck oil in Corsicana - the first significant oil discovery in Texas, predating Spindletop by seven years - the discovery launched Texas's oil industry and made Corsicana the state's first oil boomtown) to the Collin Street Bakery (the Corsicana fruitcake institution founded in 1896 - the DeLuxe Fruitcake shipped worldwide from Corsicana has made it one of America's most recognized mail-order food brands, with over 1 million cakes shipped annually to all 50 states and 196 countries).
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Office: Navarro County Office of Emergency Management (NCOEM) – 223 W 1st Ave, Corsicana, TX 75110 | (903) 875-3315 | navarrocountyoem.org
Volunteer support: Navarro County CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) – founded 2010, trains community volunteers; [email protected]
Sheriff’s Office: (903) 654-3001
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-45 runs through Corsicana, the county seat, about 50 miles southeast of Dallas
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Navarro County was created April 25, 1846, and is named for José Antonio Navarro, a Tejano leader in the Texas Revolution and a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Corsicana was founded in 1848 and named by Navarro after Corsica, the Mediterranean birthplace of his father.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: City of Corsicana Building/Permits handles permits within city limits; for unincorporated Navarro County, contact the County Judge’s office, (903) 654-3000, to confirm current requirements.
Notes: Corsicana holds a genuinely significant place in Texas industrial history: in 1894, drillers searching for more water for the growing town struck oil and gas instead – the earliest major oil discovery west of the Mississippi River, which touched off Texas’s first oil boom. Since 1895, Navarro County has produced more than 200 million barrels of oil and, according to state legislative record, has the longest continual flow of oil in Texas. Corsicana also holds the real distinction of being the first city in Texas to use natural gas for fuel and lighting, and crude oil for locomotive fuel.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Navarro County Veterans Service Office – Navarro County Courthouse, 300 W. 3rd Ave, Corsicana, TX 75110 | (903) 654-3000; assists veterans with state and federal benefit eligibility and coordinates community support drives for local homeless veterans.
State VSO: Texas Veterans Commission – tvc.texas.gov
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Gaston C. Gooch Library – genuinely notable for holding an exhibited collection of 44,000 pieces of Indian art and craft, considered one of the finest collections in the Southwest, per state legislative record; confirm current hours via the City of Corsicana.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Corsicana is genuinely world-famous for the Collin Street Bakery, founded 1896 by German immigrant August Weidmann and William Thomas McElwee – its DeLuxe fruitcake is shipped to all 50 states and roughly 200 countries annually, and is the only fruitcake ever to receive the Gourmet Society Culinary Merit Award; the original bakery corner in downtown is marked with a bronze fruitcake-bearing baker statue as part of a self-guided bronze statue history tour with QR-code narration. Downtown also marks the corner where Wolf Brand Chili was first sold from a wagon for five cents a cup. Pioneer Village, restored by the Navarro County Historical Society, preserves mid-1800s houses and buildings. Corsicana is home to Navarro College, whose Grand National Champion cheer team is the real subject of the popular Netflix docuseries “Cheer.” The historic Carriage District features homes built between 1846 and 1900.
Notes: This is real, extensively documented Texas industrial and cultural history – the 1894 oil strike genuinely predates the more famous 1901 Spindletop discovery covered elsewhere in this project (Jefferson County), making Corsicana Texas’s true first oil boom town.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Navarro County Appraisal District – confirm current phone via co.navarro.tx.us; described as consistent in applying agricultural exemption rules for rural acreage.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: City of Corsicana Animal Services – 617 S. 12th St, Corsicana, TX 75110 | (903) 654-4928 (shelter) / (903) 654-4929 (animal control) | Hours: Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri, 12 PM–6 PM, Saturday 12 PM–4 PM; a division of the Corsicana Police Department, open-intake since 1995, offering adoptions, pet registration, and 24-hour response to animal-related calls; fees apply for animals brought in by county residents.
Independent nonprofit: Humane Society of Navarro County (HSNC) – a separate 501(c)(3) offering low-cost spay/neuter and a pet-food-assistance program (Ducky’s Pet Food Friday); does NOT have animal control authority or an intake facility of its own – genuinely important distinction for residents to understand.
Notes: Real, well-documented city-run animal control with a clearly separate nonprofit support organization – a distinction worth flagging plainly for readers.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: City of Corsicana Solid Waste Services – confirm current collection schedules via cityofcorsicana.com; for unincorporated county areas, contact the County Judge’s office.
NOTES: Navarro County is the second county in this batch (Nacogdoches, Navarro, Newton, Nolan, Nueces, Ochiltree, Oldham). Corsicana’s real 1894 oil discovery – Texas’s first major oil boom, predating Spindletop – and its genuine Collin Street Bakery fame are distinctive, checkable pieces of Texas history. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Navarro County
Navarro County is north-central Texas’s first oil well and world-famous fruitcake county – Corsicana’s 1894 accidental oil discovery launched the Texas petroleum industry, and the Collin Street Bakery’s fruitcakes ship to 196 countries annually.
Corsicana (the county seat, population ~24,000) holds two remarkable distinctions – the site of Texas’s first significant oil discovery in 1894, and the home of the Collin Street Bakery, whose DeLuxe Fruitcake has been a Texas Christmas institution since 1896. The fruitcake’s global shipping operation makes Corsicana one of the most surprisingly cosmopolitan small Texas cities.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Navarro County Appraisal District at 119 W. 1st Avenue, Corsicana, TX 75110, phone 903-872-6161. TX property assessed at 100% market value.
Courts & Legal
Navarro County District Clerk at 300 W. 3rd Avenue, Corsicana, TX 75110, phone 903-654-3035, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
300 West 3rd Ave, Corsicana, TX 75110
(903) 654-3035
DISTRICT CLERK
300 West 3rd Ave, Corsicana, TX 75110
(903) 654-3035
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Navarro County Clerk’s Office, Corsicana (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Navarro County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
County Clerk, Navarro County PO Box 423, Corsicana, TX 75151 (903) 654-3035
Navarro County was founded April 25, 1846, named for José Antonio Navarro, in North Central Texas, seated in Corsicana.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Texas probate law is governed by the Texas Estates Code. Probate jurisdiction in Texas is split between statutory probate courts (in larger metro counties) and county courts (in smaller counties like Navarro, sometimes assisted by district courts). In Navarro County, the County Court handles probate matters.
Small Estate Affidavit (Tex. Est. Code § 205.001) – available ONLY when the decedent died WITHOUT a will (intestate), the estate (excluding homestead and exempt property) does not exceed $75,000, and assets exceed debts. At least 30 days must have passed since death. The affidavit must list every asset and debt, establish the family history showing who the heirs are, and be sworn to by the heirs and two disinterested witnesses; a judge then reviews and approves it under § 205.003.
Independent Administration – used when a will exists (or all heirs agree) and the estate has debts; minimal court supervision after the executor is appointed. This is the most common and efficient path in Texas when available.
Muniment of Title – available when a valid will exists, there are no unsecured debts (other than a mortgage), and there’s no other need for a full administration; transfers title without appointing an executor.
Dependent Administration – required for complex, contested, or disputed estates; involves ongoing court supervision and approval of most actions.
Step 2: filing for administration
The personal representative (or an interested party) files an Application for Probate of Will and Issuance of Letters Testamentary (or Letters of Administration, if intestate) with the Navarro County Clerk.
The original will (if one exists), a certified death certificate, and information about heirs and the proposed executor are included with the application.
The court holds a hearing and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors and gathers, inventories, and appraises the estate’s assets.
The personal representative pays valid debts and expenses.
Remaining assets are distributed to beneficiaries or heirs, and the estate is closed.
What it costs
Filing fees in Texas typically run $250–$400 depending on the county; confirm current Navarro County fees directly.
Texas law allows a statutory executor fee of 5% of all sums actually received and paid out in cash, with specific exceptions. The court may also approve reasonable attorney fees paid from the estate.
Small estate affidavits typically cost $600–$1,900 total when factoring in filing and related fees.
Texas does NOT impose a state estate tax or a state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax may apply, and only to very large estates.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
100 East Collin St, Corsicana, TX 75110
(903) 654-3001
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
300 West 3rd Ave, Corsicana, TX 75110
(903) 654-3035
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
300 West 3rd Ave, Corsicana, TX 75110
(903) 654-3040
HHSC Office
3316 West 7th Ave, Corsicana, TX 75110
(903) 872-3701
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Facility: City of Corsicana / Navarro County Health Department – 618 N Main St, Corsicana, TX 75110 | (903) 874-6731
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Corsicana
Population: 53,000
Established: 1846
Tier: 3
Public Records
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