Powderly is a rural census-designated place in Lamar County, in far northeast Texas near the Red River and the Oklahoma line. It sits on U.S. Highway 271, about five miles south of the highway's crossing of the Red River, and the CDP covers roughly 7.5 square miles, with a small portion of that area under water. The 2020 census recorded 1,261 residents. The community dates to around the Civil War era, when it was known as Lenoir. When the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway built through the area in the 1880s, the settlement took on a new name and a rail-oriented identity. Today Powderly is an unincorporated area with no local government and no formally mapped neighborhoods or walkable downtown; it functions as a spread-out rural community where residents value privacy and self-reliance, and homeownership runs well above the state average. Pat Mayse Lake shapes both recreation and the area's appeal. The Army Corps of Engineers reservoir, impounded in 1967 on Sanders Creek, a tributary of the Red River, lies a short drive from Powderly and offers fishing, boating, and camping without the crowds of the state's largest lakes. Its campgrounds and boat ramps draw weekend and seasonal visitors, while year-round residents treat the lake as an everyday amenity. Paris, the Lamar County seat, sits to the south on U.S. 271 and supplies shopping, schools, and services. The town's historic downtown and the broader Prairies and Lakes region of Texas give Powderly residents a nearby urban anchor while the community itself remains open, low-density country. Powderly suits buyers who want a rural, lake-adjacent setting on larger lots, close to the Red River basin, with Paris's amenities within easy reach.