Houston County is located geographically in the center of east Texas. Physiographically, it is located in the Red Lands, according to Deussen (I), of the west Gulf Coastal Plains section of the Coastal Plains province of the Atlantic Plain division. The county consists of a land area of 762,752 acres or about 1,192 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Anderson County, on the northeast by Cherokee County, on the east by Angelina County, on the southeast by Trinity County, on the southwest by Madison County, and on the west by Leon County.