Historical Markers in Jacksonville, Texas

Church Founded by Chaplain Nicholas A. Davis, C.S.A. · 1964

Born in Alabama in 1824. Entered Presbyterian ministry. Moved to Texas in 1857. Farmed and preached. At start of Civil War joined the 4th Texas Infantry and went with troops to Virginia. As a Confederate chaplain had…

Brown, W. A., Home · 1965

Oldest Home in Jacksonville · 1965

Begun in Texas colonial style, 1857. W. A. Brown (1841-1933), veteran of Gen. N. B. Forrest's Confederate Cavalry, built main structure, 1874. Victorian additions 1890s. Lumber, hand-sawn heart pine, cut nearby. Square…

Texas Civil War Iron Works · 1965

To make farm and kitchen tools need in wartime, Chapel Hill Manufacturing Co. in 1863 set up plant on this site, processing native iron; used Cherokee limestone to purify the ore. Nearby hardwood supplied charcoal. Crew…

Judge H.T. Brown · 1968

Judge H.T. Brown (August 17, 1885 - April 3, 1958) Judge of the 2nd District for over 13 years. Respected for his quiet, studious and careful handling of cases. Taught in country school at 20. Was chosen County School…

Old Neches Saline Road · 1970

Originally an Indian trail. Used in 1765 by the Spanish priest Calahorra on an Indian peace mission. Gained importance, 1820s, for use in hauling salt from Neches Saline to Nacogdoches. Survivors of the Killough family…

Old Rusk Tramway · 1970

Equipped with pine rails that warped out of shape and running at a speed often exceeded by mule wagons, the Rusk tram began operations in 1875. Bypassed two years earlier by another railroad, citizens rejoiced over the…

Lon Morris College · 1971

Oldest junior college in Texas. Founded in Kilgore by Dr. Isaac Alexander, pioneer educator. In 1875 it became property of the East Texas (now the Texas) Conference of the Methodist Church. It was moved to Jacksonville…

Union Grove Cemetery · 1971

Established in 1868 with burial of Mary Ann Patton, the first wife of John F. Patton (1829-1900). He was Jacksonville postmaster, Confederate Army officer during Civil War (1861-65). In 1871 he deeded this land to the…

Jarratt Cemetery · 1978

In 1850 Devereux and Polly Ann Jarratt of Virginia settled in this area. In 1858 their sons Henry Morris Jarratt and Wade Jarratt set aside the original cemetery plot for family and public burial. The first burial was a…

Love's Lookout · 1978

On this nine mile long ridge there are two historic lookout points which command a view of 30 to 35 miles. Between this site, with an elevation of 713 ft., and Point Lookout (1/4 mi. NW), lies a narrow valley. An Indian…

John Wesley Love Home · 1982

Known as "The Peach King" for his large peach orchards, John Wesley Love was born near Jacksonville in 1858. He and his wife, Texanna (Pickens), had this home built in 1902-03 to accommodate their family of twelve…

Cove Springs United Methodist Church · 1986

Begun in December 1856 as the Sand Hill Methodist Episcopal Church, South, this church has been in continuous operation for over 130 years. A parcel of land was purchased at Sand Hill by church trustees, and the…

Jackson Smith · 1986

A blacksmith by trade, Kentuckian Jackson Smith came to Texas in the 1830s and participated in the War for Independence. He later visited this area as a Republic of Texas scout. In the 1840s, he settled southwest of…

Thomas Jefferson Dean · 1986

Thomas Jefferson Dean (Aug. 5, 1883 -- Feb. 5, 1949) Born on a farm in Gregg County, Tom Dean became a pastor of the First Christian Church in Jacksonville in 1909, four years before graduating from Texas Christian…

Site of First Free Public School · 1988

In 1885 a two-story frame structure was built on this site and served as the first free public school in Jacksonville. It was destroyed by a tornado in 1890. A three-story brick building was erected here in 1910-12.…

First United Methodist Church of Jacksonville · 1989

This congregation traces its history to 1845, when it was organized in the small rural settlement of Gum Creek. The Rev. Henderson D. Palmer, a circuit riding Methodist minister, served as the first pastor of the…

Earle's Chapel Cemetery · 1990

Elijah Earle (1804-1880) and his second wife, Mary Elizabeth Jarratt Tatum (1824-1904), set aside land for this graveyard in 1858. Elijah selected his own burial site at the time, marking it by carving his initials on a…

Earle's Chapel Methodist Church · 1990

Settlement of the Earle's Chapel community began several years before the organization of Cherokee County. W. J. Ragsdale (1811-1884), a veteran of the Texas War for Independence, and his wife Patsy McAdams (1816-1898)…

First Baptist Church of Jacksonville · 1990

This congregation traces it history to the origins of the town of Jacksonville. When the International and Great Northern Railroad promoted the new town of Jacksonville along its rail line in 1872, city lots were set…

Carey Lake-Boggy Creek Oil Field · 1995

Cherokee County's first commercial oil field was discovered here in the area of Carey Lake and Boggy Creek by the Humble Oil and Refining Company in 1927. A discovery well drilled at the northeast corner of Carey Lake…

Friendship Baptist Church and Corine Cemetery · 1996

The church and cemetery nearby have served the rural Corine area for more than a century. Founded in 1872, the church held early worship services in a log building, which also housed the community school. Early baptisms…

Corinth Baptist Church · 2002

Corinth Baptist Church Organized in June 1881 through the efforts of Obediah Meador and his family, this congregation had 12 members when it joined the Cherokee Baptist Association in 1882. Obediah Meador's son, the…

Grimes Cemetery · 2002

Grimes Cemetery Benjamin Franklin Grimes came to Cherokee County in 1852 with his parents, Isaac and Sara Wilkinson Grimes. In 1859, Benjamin married Mary Jane Wallace, and to this union were born ten children. For a…

Jacksonville Independent School District · 2002

Jacksonville Independent School District Jacksonville's early settlers valued education and had a school as early as 1846 at the original townsite. The Texas Legislature authorized creation of county school districts in…

Central Baptist Church of Jacksonville · 2004

On September 12, 1906, 22 charter members met at the home of the Rev. E.G. Musgrove to organize the Central Baptist Church of Jacksonville. Two weeks later, a revival led by the noted Baptist preacher George W. Truett…

Craft Baptist Church · 2007

Organized in 1891 at the Shiloh Schoolhouse by members of the Baptist Church of Christ at Corinth, this church was originally called the Baptist Church of Christ at Shiloh. Charter members elected E.M. Carter as the…

Sweet Union Baptist Church · 2007

Former slaves, led by the Rev. T.B. Johnson, organized Sweet Union Baptist Church in 1887 shortly after the establishment of Jacksonville. Members met in a schoolhouse before erecting their own building in 1894. The…

Tecula Cemetery · 2008

Tecula Cemetery, established c. 1894

Mixon Cemetery · 2010

MIXON CEMETERY SETTLERS FROM TENNESSEE, ALABAMA, GEORGIA AND THE CAROLINAS, INCLUDING THE BLANTON, BRALY, DICKEY, LANGSTON, LONG, MUSICK, SHAW, STOCKTON AND THOMAS FAMILIES, ESTABLISHED PINE SPRINGS COMMUNITY (LATER…

Sea Scouts Ship 400 · 2017

As a branch of the Boy Scouts of America, Sea Scouting promotes mental and physical fitness through maritime skills. In 1936, Jacksonville attorney John C. Box, Jr., organized a unit for local boys, sailing the Sea…

Annie Ella (McCallum) Ault · 2018

Second intersection of State Highway 69 and Country Road 1615 S from Craft toward Rusk

Fred Douglass School · 2018

Named after prominent African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, the Fred Douglass School was a 20th century African American educational institution in Jacksonville. Because of Jim Crow, the system of laws that…

Jacksonville's Public Square · 2021

Jackson Smith, a Republic of Texas soldier and scout who first explored the Gum Creek area in 1838, returned in 1847 and built a house and blacksmith shop where F.C. Hardgraves, James G. Earle, David Templeton and…