De Kalb is a city in western Bowie County, Texas, in the state's northeastern corner near the Red River. It is part of the Texarkana metropolitan statistical area and sits at the junction of U.S. Highways 82 and 259, with a 2020 population of 1,527. The community serves as a small trade and service center for the surrounding farms and timberland of the Ark-La-Tex region, where the pine woods of East Texas meet the Red River bottomlands. For much of its history, De Kalb has been an agricultural and timber town, with cotton, cattle, and forest products shaping the local economy. The arrival of railroads and, later, the highway network anchored the town as a crossroads for surrounding farms. Its position along U.S. Highway 82—an east-west route linking the area to Texarkana and beyond—keeps it connected to the region, while Interstate 30 carries traffic between Dallas and the Arkansas border. Today De Kalb is a compact, family-oriented city centered on the DeKalb Independent School District, which operates three campuses serving roughly 900 students. Residential streets cluster around the school and the highway corridors, giving way quickly to pasture and pine woods. Downtown's churches, small businesses, and civic buildings reflect the community's long continuity, and the DeKalb Bears anchor local athletics and school pride. Texarkana, a short drive to the east, provides regional shopping, healthcare, and employment, while the area's gentle hills, lakes, and pine forests offer fishing, hunting, and outdoor recreation, with the Red River bottomlands just to the north. De Kalb suits people seeking small-town life in northeast Texas with a short commute to Texarkana—an unhurried pace, open space, and a close-knit community, with the broader Ark-La-Tex amenities within easy reach.