Jasper County, Texas
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History/Timeline
- Prehistoric hunters camped near streams, rivers and moved in search of game.
- 1542 - the Moscoso expedition may have crossed the region returning to Mississippi River. [1]
- 1700s - Spanish entered the region, Atakapa Indians lived in S sections of Jasper County. Caddo Indians were in the N section. Ais Indians lived and hunted near the Sabine and Neches Rivers.[1]
- 1754 French trappers led by Joseph Blancpain were arrested by Spanish who wanted to deter French occupation of East Texas. [1]
- 1774 - English explorers crossed Sabine Lake and traveled up the Neches by boat. [1]
- 1835- Bevil settlement began 1824, then renamed Jasper in 1835 in honor of William Jasper.[2]
- 1836 -Jasper County was one of the original 23 counties 1836 created when the Republic of Texas was established after the Texas Revolution. Jasper County was organized 1837, and named for Sgt. William Jasper of American Revolution .[3][4]
- 1844 William McFarland noted in his diary that the Ais Indians were an older group of the Caddo confederacy. [1] The Peaceful Biloxi Indians, built 3 villages East of theNeches River. [1]
- Riverboats came into Bevilport when the Angelina River water level was sufficiently high.[1]
:1850 Lumber industry began with a steam sawmill was built at Ford's Bluff (later named Evadale).[1] :Slavery Slavery movement
- 1860 census listed 2,426 whites and 1,611 slaves (39% of the population). Census recorded 170 slaveholders, with 3 owning over 50 slaves. [1]
- 1865 - confederate government in Texas collapsed , summer, 1865, and Union troops arrived in the county 1866. [1]
:1882 the Texas Tram and Lumber Company moved its logging camp to Magnolia Springs and floated logs down Wright Creek to the Neches River.
- 1890 - 6,800 cattle were reported in Jasper in 1880 and almost 9,400 in 1890. Number of farms
- 1890 -1910 county grew steadily even as cotton farming decreased.[1]
- 1894 a company moved a logging camp in Kirbyville.[1]
- 1895 the Gulf, Beaumont and Kansas City Railway completed its track from Kirbyville to Roganville, in Newton County, reaching Jasper co. 1900, increasing shipping capability for the timber industry, which previously had to use river transportation. [1]
- 1900 The timber industry grew into an integral part of the local economy.[1]
- 1910 there were 864 farms, (849 farms - 1900) and (864 by 1910). Number acres cultivated in the county was 20,000, county farms produced 27,000 chickens, (1910- 10,000 sheep) (#of cattle 14,000 by 1910), (Cotton on 1571 acres).[1]
- 1910- 1929 cotton production -2,250 acres planted in cotton. Citizens worked in lumber mills (1,748 in 1929)[1]
- 1940-high unemployment (1,054 jobless workers out of a total workforce of 5,875). [1]
- Federal projects helped to stabilize the economy somewhat. Examples: 1) Jasper-Newton Electrical Cooperative bringing electricity to rural areas. 2) Jasper became the headquarters for the Lower Neches Valley Authority.3) The logging industry revived 4) Highway construction helped to invigorate the economy; by 1945 U.S. highways 96 and 190 were both paved. The population of the county grew to 20,049 by 1950 and to 22,100 by 1960. [1]
- 1950s Oil was first discovered in Jasper County in 1928, production increased in 1950, petroleum helped to stabilize the economy. [1]
- 1982 -591,000 barrels oil producedin 1982
A small town grew near this not far from Jasper, Texas. It was called Bevilport,which grew to a becoming a point on the river from 1830-1860. There were volunteers for the Texas Revolution from Bevilport who fought with other Texans in the battles at Nacogdoches and Bexar. Following this the Republic of Texas converted many of the Mexican municipalities into the rirst formed counties. Later they were split into more counties. Jasper, Texas started with the log courthouse and jail on the central square. By 1846 the first split formed Newton County. 1847 Andrew Smyth had a sawmill on the river near Bevilport deriving its power from the Indian Creek. Then a fire burned the courthouse with the records, 1849. A second building was built. The county voters chose secession by 318-25. Dr William Neyland served as Brig Gen of 2nd Brigade of the Texas State Troops. Company C of the Twenty-fifth Texas Dismounted Cavalry was formed in Jasper county. 1862 Company E, Lone Star Rifles was mustered to service. When the war was over, Union troops arrived in Jasper 1866. This town of Jasper, located in the W part of the county and activity in the early years. Today it is is hardly known among the geographical communities. http://genealogytrails.com/tex/pineywoods/jasper/ Source: A History of Texas and Texans, Volume 2 By Francis White Johnson (Published by American Historical Society, 1914) Transcribed by Veneta McKinney
Government Offices
Jasper County has had three courthouses: 1837, 1854 and 1889
1st county Courthouse, 1837 The first county courthouse, in Bevil, Texas for Jasper county was built on the on this site and was a 2-room log structure. A 1849 fire destroyed the building. [5]
2nd County Courthouse, 1854 2-Story building [5]
3rd County Courthouse, 1889
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| 1889 Courthouse in 1889 |
The 1889 to present courthouse, was built with locally made red brick, with a completion date of 1889. One year later a tower with a four-sided clock and bell was added. Additional wings were added on the east and west sides in 1931, and the entire courthouse was covered with stucco. An adjacent office building was erected by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1940, and the courthouse clock tower was removed in a 1957 remodeling project. then replaced 1990.[5]
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| 1889-current Courthouse. |
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| Clocktower. |
Geography
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcj03
- Location SE Texas, bordered on N by San Augustine and Sabine counties, on E by Newton Co., on S by Orange Co., and on W by Hardin and Tyler counties.
- County seat -Jasper, is 115 miles NE of Houston and 23 miles W of the Sabine River and Louisiana. :County center -- 94°00' west longitude and 31°41' north latitude.
- Named for William Jasper, a hero of the American Revolution, killed attempting to plant the American colors at the storming of Savannah in 1779.
- Size- 907 square miles of East Texas timberlands
- Elevation - 25 to 400 feet above sea level.
- Terrain - N border and S 1/3 of the county is undulating to rolling. Remainder of county is flat
- Soil -loamy or sandy surface layers and reddish mottled clay or loamy subsoils. The flat part has grayish, cracking-clay soils of the Trinity River floodplain and the reddish loamy soils of the Red River floodplain.
- Water is plentiful in the county
- Rainfall is fifty-two inches.
- Water sources include Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Lake B. A. Steinhagen, the Neches River (which forms the county's western boundary), and the Angelina River.
- Temperatures -high of 93° F in July to low of 37° in January;
- Growing season lasts 229 days.
- Resources include abundant timber, oil, and natural gas. The timber is mixed pine and hardwood.
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcj03
Adjacent counties
- San Augustine County (north)
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| adjacent counties |
- Sabine County (northeast)
- Newton County (east)
- Orange County (south)
- Hardin County (southwest)
- Tyler County (west)
- Angelina County (northwest)
Protected areas
- Angelina National Forest (part)
- Big Thicket National Preserve (part)
- Sabine National Forest (part)
Demographics
In 2000, 35,604 people resided in the county with a population density of 38 people/sq. mi. The racial makeup of the county was 78.24% White, 17.81% Black or African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.04% from other races, and 1.15% from two or more races. About 3.89% of the population was Hispanic. The median income for a household in the county was $30,902, and for a family was $35,709. Males had a median income of $31,739 versus $19,119 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,636. About 15.00% of families and 18.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.40% of those under age 18 and 17.80% of those age 65 or over. [6]
Highways:
- U.S. Highway 69
- U.S. Highway 96
- U.S. Highway 190
- Texas State Highway 62
- Texas State Highway 63
- Texas Recreational Road 255
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| locale in Texas. |
Politics:
In national politics the county supported Democratic presidential candidates in virtually every election between 1848 and 1992. In only four instances did Jasper County voters supported Republicans: William McKinley in 1900, Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, Richard Nixon in 1972, and Ronald Reagan in 1984. [7]
Agriculture-- livestock sales accounted for $3,310,000 of the total. Timber, cattle and hogs were the chief agricultural products, but harvests of vegetables, fruit, and pecans also produced income for the area. More than 732,670 barrels of oil, and 11,160,962 thousand cubic feet of gas well gas.[8]
Cities
- Jasper (county seat)
Census des Place/Un in Communities
Census desig Places:
- Buna
- Evadale
- Sam Rayburn
- Zavala Ghost town
| Uninc Communities | Unin Community | Unin Community |
|---|---|---|
| Beans | Gumslough | Holly Springs |
| Beech Grove | Curtis | Magnolia Springs |
| Bessmay | Harrisburg | Mount Union |
| Cairo Springs | Gist | Roganville |
| Brookeland (part Sabine Co.) | Erin | Zeirath Ghost town |
Formed From
- 1836--Jasper County was created 17 March 1836 from Old Mexican Municipality.
Resources
Census
- 1850 --- 1,767 —
- 1860 --- 4,037 128.5%
- 1870 --- 4,218 4.5%
- 1880 --- 5,779 37.0%
- 1890 --- 5,592 −3.2%
- 1900 --- 7,138 27.6%
- 1910 --- 14,000 96.1%
- 1920 --- 15,569 11.2%
- 1930 --- 17,064 9.6%
- 1940 --- 17,491 2.5%
- 1950 --- 20,049 14.6%
- 1960 --- 22,100 10.2%
- 1970 --- 24,692 11.7%
- 1980 --- 30,781 24.7%
- 1990 --- 31,102 1.0%
- 2000 --- 35,604 14.5%
- 2010 --- 35,710 0.3%
- Est. 2015 --- 35,506
Notables
- Lorenzo de Zala
- John Bevil
Land Grants
- John Bevil received 1st class land grant on Angelina River, `819
- 1829 Lorenzo de Zala received his Mexican empresarial grant (which encompassed most of Jasper county).
Cemeteries
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Sources
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcj03
- ↑ http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/Jasper-County-Courthouse-Texas.htm
- ↑ https://texasalmanac.com/topics/government/jasper-county
- ↑ http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/Jasper-County-Courthouse-Texas.htm
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/Jasper-County-Courthouse-Texas.htm
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasper_County,_Texas
- ↑ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcj03
- ↑ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcj03
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