Encinal is a city in La Salle County, Texas, United States. The population was 629 at the 2000 census. Interstate 35 Business runs through the community. There are few businesses in Encinal; most have closed along the main street.Railroad officials named the town for the Spanish word for oak grove. The population peaked in 1937 at eight hundred residents. A rattlesnake measuring 5 feet, 7 inches was captured in Encinal in 1972.