Like the rest of the South, Texas and Nacogdoches suffered during the Civil War and Reconstruction years, but by 1880 the town was booming.

Nacogdoches remained exclusively a farming community until the Houston, East & West Texas Railroad arrived in 1883. This helped to transform Nacogdoches into an industrial center as well. In 1923, the Texas legislature created Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College in Nacogdoches. Designated Stephen F. Austin State University in 1968, SFA remains the most significant economic factor in Nacogdoches’ development.