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The
old Double Bayou Dance Hall on Eagle Ferry Rd.
Photo courtesy Ethan Grossman, February 2018
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History in
a Pecan Shell
The community dates
from 1847 when James Jackson started his large 26,000 acre ranch.
Sometime before 1900, John Jackson opened a general store here. Ralph
Semmes Jackson (grandson of James Jackson) was born in the early 1900s.
Ralph was to become the author of Home on the Double Bayou,
one of the best place-related memoirs of Texas.
Ralph's brother Guy Cade Jackson was to become an early conservationist
and county judge.
A post office opened just before the Civil War (1860) and closed just
after the war's end (1866). It reopened in the country's centennial
year of 1876 but closed for good in 1919. |
The
lack of roads made Double Bayou inaccessible except by boat. Severe
storms battered the region and thousands of cattle were lost (frozen)
one brutal winter. The hurricane of 1915 devastated the area, flooding
the homes of most residents yet the community remained.
Double Bayou is certainly off the beaten path but because of the heartfelt
book, it has achieved a historical immortality for intimate portrayal
of a unique place. |
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Double
Bayou Dance Hall Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Ethan Grossman, February 2018
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Historical Marker
(on Eagle Ferry Road off Hwy 562):
Double Bayou
Dance Hall
Nestled in the
thick woods and low-lying marshlands of east
Texas lies the predominantly African American community of Double
Bayou, named after twin waterways in the area. The community was originally
settled by rancher John Jackson around 1847. Later, a local general
store became the center of the community. Sugar cane, cotton
and oil attracted farmers and workers to the commercial link to Galveston.
After a hard day’s work, these workers, African American and Anglo,
flocked to the little one-room dance hall which became known as Double
Bayou Dance Hall.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s during Juneteenth,
many celebrants would travel from Galveston
to Double Bayou. At its inception, the dance hall was little more
than cedar logs laid out as a dance floor. In 1941, a storm destroyed
the structure. Using the original materials, the dance hall was rebuilt
after World War
II not far down the road from the original location by Manuel
Rivers, Jr. (1907-1983). Despite its meager appearance, the music
that poured through the windows and doors filled the woods with the
rich sound of Texas Blues.
One resident of Double Bayou, Floyd “Pete” Mayes (1938-2008), grew
up around the old dance hall and premiered in 1954 with his band,
the Texas Houserockers. Over the next several decades, many blues
legends performed at Double Bayou Dance Hall as it was a popular destination
along the Chitlin’ Circuit, a group of nightclubs safe for African
Americans to perform. Despite cultural and economic differences, once
people entered Double Bayou Dance Hall, they shared their love of
music and love of Texas Blues.
2015 |
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Double
Bayou Dance Hall
Photo courtesy Ethan Grossman, February 2018
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Jackson
Grocery & old gas station on Eagle Ferry Rd
Photo courtesy Ethan Grossman, September 2016
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Jackson
Gro with old gas pumps
Photo
courtesy Ethan Grossman, September 2016
More Texas
Gas Stations
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Photographer's
Note:
Subject: Double Bayou Store
I wanted to share a picture I took of an old store in Chambers
County. It is located on Eagle Ferry Rd, near the community of
Double Bayou.
A ferry once operated in the area known as Eagle Ferry (hence the
name), but I can't find any information on where exactly it was. I
did however find an article that mentioned a store in the area:
"During this era residents living around the mouth of Double Bayou
utilized the Post Office and General Store located by Eagle
Ferry and operated by the Gottfried Wolff family." (http://www.cchcnews.com/Infamous.pdf)
The store has a sign that says/said Jackson Grocery. It is almost
directly across from the Double Bayou Community Building, which is
obviously an old school building.
- Ethan Grossman, October 04, 2016
Subject: Double Bayou Ferry and Store
"The house that the ferry operator lived in is still on the property
which at one time was also a country store." - Teague Landry,
June 14, 2021 |
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1907 Chambers
County Postal Map showing Double Bayou
Courtesy Texas General Land Office |
| Texas
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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