Green, Madison. Why not Orange?

Orange, Texas, Zip Code 77631. Originally (1836) called Green Bluff, in 1840 changed to Madison in honor of the president. Confusion reigned in mail delivery, given confusion with already formed Texas town of Madisonville. So the name was changed to Orange. Sure. Why not. But, why not Burnt Orange or Red Orange?

The 2010 census shows the population as 18,595. During the last numbered world war, more than 60,000 people lived there.

TSHA says the city was named Orange because of “an orange grove owned by George Patillo.”

Orange County, of which the City of Orange is county seat, was “named after the orange fruit, the common citrus fruit grown by the early settlers of this County near the mouth of the Sabine River.” Farmers no longer grow oranges in Orange County, because of “periodic spells of quite cold weather (frosts) …”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_County,_Texas

So, almost 200 years ago, the climate was conducive for oranges, but between then and some unspecified date, weather became too cold for citrus production. Hmm. The weather became too cold.

As with many riverside, state boundary cities, Orange had its share of bad guys, or as TSHA says, “Because of its relative isolation on the Louisiana border, the community became a stopping place for outlaws and renegades interested in crossing the Sabine River into Texas.”

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rrg04

There are a lot of places you don’t want to mess around in, and any Texas town that borders Louisiana, or vice versa, makes that “Don’t Mess With” list. From Texarkana to Orange, you get swamps and deep woods and the accompanying wildlife, human and non-. (Texarkana does not physically border Louisiana, but the Pelican State has influenced the Texas-Arkansas population.)