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History in
a Pecan Shell
Settled in the
mid 1820s, it was first known as Bevil’s Settlement (after
John Bevil). In 1835 it joined a host of other southern states naming
the county after William Jasper,
of American Revolution fame. In 1844 the town of Jasper became the
county seat.
A post office was granted in 1846 when the population was only 40.
In the next ten years the population reached 400.
A Confederate quartermaster depot was located here during the Civil
War and following the war, several educational institutions opened
before they were absorbed in a public school system in 1908.
A weekly newspaper, the Jasper News-boy, has been published continuously
since 1865. The 1870 population declined from the 400 residents of
1858 to to 360. By the mid 1880s it had grown to 1,000. By the mid
1890s it reported 1,200 residents.
The arrival of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad made Jasper
an important lumber exporter. The population grew from 1,500 in the
mid 1920s to 6,500 in the late 1960s.
Jasper reached a new high during the 1990 census with 7,267 residents
and over 200 businesses. By 2000 the population surpassed 8,000 with
over 700 businesses. |
Jasper, Texas
Landmarks/Attractions
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Jasper
County Museum
East Texas
Reginal Arts Center - 364 N Austin. 409-384-2404
Jasper' Fireman's
Museum - 205 Water St. 409-383-6168
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Belle-Jimm Hotel
Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, May 2009 |
Jasper Chronicles
Jasper
and Newton Counties, Beyond the Sabine
Remembering
two doctors by Bob Bowman
When doctors W.D. Thames of Lufkin and Joe Dickerson of Jasper died
recently, East Texas lost two unique physicians--men who made house
calls, kept up with the babies they delivered, and cared for whole
families....
Courtroom
Storytellers by Bob Bowman
Because they've seen the best and worst of humanity, lawyers are
among our best storytellers. Courtroom stories of Jasper's Joe Tonahill
and Lufkin's J.J. Collins...
Joe
Tonahill of Jasper by Bob Bowman
When Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy in
1963, an East Texas lawyer soon found himself thrust into history.
A
well-used phone book by Bob Bowman
I’ve received a telephone book adorned with telephone numbers from
the 1980’s scribbled all over the cover, the back, and dozens of
inside pages. It came from Joel Towers of Lufkin with a note that
it was his mother’s telephone book from Jasper...
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Area Destinations
Angelina National
Forest - Entrance Hwy 63 NW 13 miles
Martin Dies,
Jr. State Park
RR 4 Box 274 Jasper, Texas 75951
(409) 384-5231
Siecke State
Forest - US 96, 25 miles S
Lakes
Toledo
Bend
B. A. Steinhagen
Sam Rayburn
Book Hotel Here › Jasper
Hotels
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Jasper
Tourist Information
Jasper Chamber of Commerce
246 E Milam Jasper, Texas 75951
(409) 384-2762 |
Jasper County
C.S.A. Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, May 2009 |
Historical Marker:
Jasper County, C. S. A.
Communication, transportation, supply and military center in Civil
War Texas. Voted 315 to 25 in favor of secession. Crossed by Texas
troops in the 1862-64 Louisiana campaigns to prevent split of the
South and invasion of Texas. Confederate Army ran Houston-to-Alexandria,
La., military horseback courier route through here. In last years
of the war, Abel Adams, a local 14-year-old, rode this in a high lope,
for Gen. John B. Magruder, commander of the Department of Texas. Beef
was driven to troops in the Old South by way of 1823 trail across
the county.
Had a Confederate Quartermaster Depot and 9-county headquarters, 2nd
Brigade, Texas State Troops, under Gen. W. M. Neyland, local citizen.
County men in service on various war fronts of the South included
Co. G, 13th Texas Cavalry; Co. C, 25th Texas Cavalry, Dismounted;
Co. E, 27th Texas Cavalry, in Whitfield's Legion.
In 1865, as survivors were returning home, Union occupation troops
bivouacked in the Jasper Town Square. Commander was Gen. George Custer,
later to go down in history for his "last stand" at the Little Big
Horn, 1876. Driving her beautiful horse and carriage, his young bride
called on the Jasper ladies. |
Jasper, Texas
Forum
JASPER,
William. c.1750-1779.
Rev. hero. S.C. Of obscure parentage, but apparently from the vicinity
of Georgetown, S. C., he enlisted on 7 July '75 in Francis Marion's
Co. for service in Wm. Moultrie's Regt. During the defense of Charleston
in 1776 he braved enemy artillery to replace the flag that had been
shot from the parapet of Ft. Sullivan (later Ft. Moultrie). Given
a sword by Gov. Rutledge, he declined a commission on the ground
of being ignorant. As a roving scout under Moultrie, Marion and
Lincoln, successively, he gathered valuable information of British
activities. He was killed while planting the colors of the 2nd S.C.
on the Spring Hill redoubt in the assault on Savannah, 9 Oct. '79.
An impressive monument has been erected at Savannah in his honor,
and one of the redoubts at Ft. Moultrie was named "Jasper Battery."
(James W. Patton in Dictionary of American Biography, quoted in
Boatner's Encyclopedia of the American Revolution.)
I have found that it is much easier to find information on Sgt.
Jasper than it is on Sgt. John Newton. - Regards, R. Keith Young
Fairfax, VA
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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