Orange (population 18,643) is located near the Gulf of Mexico on the Sabine River close to the Texas/Louisiana State line. The city's strategic geographic location made it an important port, and it became a center for shipbuilding during World Wars I and II. The U.S.S. Orleck, a Navy destroyer built in Orange in 1945, is now berthed downtown and is interpreted as a tourist attraction.
The downtown area has many other historic resources and is one of five locally designated historic districts in the community. In the Old Orange Historic District, a primarily residential district, the city offers a partial tax exemption on improvements and protects the district's large street trees by ordinance.
In the downtown district, the Heritage House Museum (1902) and adjacent Heritage History Museum (1915) are focal points for heritage tourism. Last year, the city combined the annual Heritage House living history event with an art show to create a new annual celebration of Orange history and culture.
Orange also promotes heritage tourism by participating in the Texas Historical Commission's Texas Forest Trail heritage tourism initiative.
Designated a Preserve America Community in September 2004.