Located in northeast Hunt County between the South and Middle Sulphur Rivers, commerce is approximately fifteen miles northeast of Greenville, the county seat of Hunt County.  First settled under the name "Cow Hill," a settlement about one and one-half miles from present Commerce, the area was first settled by Josiah Hart Jackson about 1856.  Cow Hill had a grist mill, a race track, and a general store.  Around 1869, the community was given the name "Ashland" when a United States Post Office was established there.

The town of Commerce was actually established in 1872 when Josiah Hart Jackson's brother-in-law, William Jernigin established a store on what is now Washington Street with his son James.  The name "Commerce" is attributed to Jernigin because legands indicate that when he bought goods for his store from East Texas towns, he instructed merchants to bill it to "Commerce."  Other stores soon grew up around the small, wood-frame general store.  When the town began to grow extensively, Jernigin moved his store to Main Street.  

William L. Mayo's East texas Normal College was moved to Commerce in 1894 after a fire in cooper.  The school, presently Texas A&M University-Commerce, has undergone several name changes since its sale to the State of Texas in 1917.  The Cotton Belt Railway came to Commerce in 1887.