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History in a Pecan
Shell
The
Texas Emigration and Land Office started attracting settlers to the area in the
mid-1850s. The area around Lost Creek formed a nucleus from which a community
developed. A second site called Mesquiteville was made county seat in 1858 and
then renamed to honor the Jack Brothers – veterans of the Texas Revolution.
Jacksboro received mail service in 1859 – even while the Butterfield Overland
Mail was still in operation (Butterfield service was stopped by the Civil War
in 1861).
Jacksboro was the westernmost settlement in Texas after the
Civil War although it barely survived Indian raids and was in ruins. Fort Richardson
was built just south of the town in 1870 – providing safety for the settlers that
now numbered several hundred.
The Chicago and Rock Island Railroad arrived
in 1898 and in 1910 a second railroad (the Gulf, Texas, and Western) built through
the town.
In 1900 the population broke 1,000 and by 1930 it had almost
doubled – many people brought in by the discovery of oil in nearby Bryson and
Antelope.
Jack
County Courthouse > |
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West side square in
Jacksboro, early 1900s
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
| | Jacksboro
High School
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
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SW corner of the
square
TE Photo February 2004 |
Jacksboro
Today Jacksboro’s
square today shows that architects made an effort toward uniformity. Professor
Henry, author of Architecture in Texas 1895-1945 uses the term “harmonious
ambiance” to describe Jacksboro’s blending of facades. |
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Jacksboro buildings are also featured in Willard Robinson’s Texas Public Buildings
of the 19th Century. |
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The Edward Eastburn Building c. 1898
TE Photo February 2004 |
| | Another
view of the Eastburn Building
TE Photo February 2004 |
Jacksboro
Tourist Information Jacksboro
Chamber of Commerce
103-C South Main , Jacksboro Texas 76458
Mail: P.O.
Box 606, Jacksboro Texas 76458
Telephone (940)567-2602
http://www.jacksboro-tx.com/
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Dark Corner Cemetery sign TE Photo
R- Jacksboro water tower
Photo courtesy
Barclay Gibson | |
Jacksboro
Texas ForumSubject:
Some of the history of Jacksboro
Fifty years ago, the Owen family lived
in Jacksboro. Eddie Owen owned an oil well servicing company. It was about the
time of the celebration of the Jacksboro centennial. Grace Owen, Eddie's wife
was sister of my father Leon Rankin. We lived in Antelope.
My mother
Lucille Rankin wrote a column for the Jacksboro newspaper called Pops Eaten.
It was a folksy bit with a lot of actual happenings in the surrounding area. People
never did guess who the actual writer was.
The Owens children and my
sister and myself are planning a reunion in Jacksboro in July to recall good old
times of our youth... I do know that where the flower shop is now was a movie
theatre where I saw my first Elvis Presly movie, and my grandfather told me that
the Vines side of the family lived there during the time when the indians would
still raid, and they would have to seek shelter at the nearby fort. - Ann Rankin
Ordonez, May 14, 2006
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