|
Commercial Row
in 2004
TE Photo, September 2004 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
The town was founded
in 1909 by developers from Temple
and Bartlett. O. D. Jarrell, the
Temple developer
lent his name to the town.
The location was on the former stageline from Georgetown
to Gatesville
and the proposed railroad (the Bartlett and Western Railway). The
arrival of the railroad caused the death of Corn
Hill - a town one mile east.
Jarrell's first businesses were reportedly a saloon and two stores.
The town got its own newspaper in 1911 and a post office in 1912.
Jarrell reached its high-water mark in 1914 with a population of 500.
The declining cotton industry and
the Great Depression put Jarrell into an economic decline. The railroad
failed in the 30s and as early as 1933 the population was already
down to only 200.
Jarrell revived somewhat to an estimated 350 by 1945.
A devastating tornado hit the town in May, 1997, killing several people
and destroying many homes. |
| Photo
courtesy Nelda D. Crews |
Jarrell, Texas
Forum
Subject:
Tracing the Jarrell clan
We have successfully traced the Jarrell clan to Virginia and the
eastern seaboard, N. Carolina in particular. At some point during
the Revolutionary War, the Jarrells, formerly Fitzgeralds, changed
the spelling, dropping the "Fitz" altogether, and the current rendition
of the last name came into being. The migration led to Georgia,
(see Jarrell, Georgia a town founded by a Jarrell whose middle name
was "Fitz" complete with renovated slave quarters and plantation
home), Kentucky, from whom I am from in Prater Hill, Pike County,
Kentucky. The Fitzgerald name, closely associated with the English
and their southern invasion during that war, may have led to persecution
by name association and thus the change and migration. I have little
information to date on O.D. Jarrell but am still actively pursuing
the Jarrell migration. - Len Jarrell, February 15, 2015
Subject:
Jarrell
I am trying to do some genealogy research on my mother's side of
the family. She grew up in Jarrell, her father was a blacksmith
there, and many of her family are buried at Corn Hill cemetary.
When I went to the site you have about Jarrell, it brought back
many memories of time I spent in Jarrell as a child, but I was particularly
interested in the picture showing the sidewalk with the names of
the graduating seniors of 1929, as my aunt (Wynette Woodward) was
one of the names displayed. - Donna Carter, November 13, 2005
|
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
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landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
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