Incorporation of Commerce

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the incorporation of Commerce, Texas. Now, every city has a beginning, and Commerce, Texas, is no different. But this one starts not where you're standin', but about one and one-half miles northeast of this very site, back in 1853.

That's when a man named Josiah H. Jackson set up a general store, and a village began to grow up around it. The folks called that village Cow Hill.

And for a while, Cow Hill was doing just fine, thank you very much. It was an active trading center, and life was good on that particular patch of Hunt County ground. Then came 1870, and with it, a new bridge over the South Sulphur River.

Now, a bridge sounds like a good thing. Usually is. But this particular bridge diverted traffic away from Cow Hill, and that, as they say, changed the arithmetic.

Two years later, a Cow Hill businessman named William Jernigin read the situation clearly. He picked up his mercantile store and moved it to a site closer to the Sulphur Springs-Bonham Highway. Smart man, Jernigin.

The crossroads near his new store became a major commercial center. During the 1870s, the name Commerce was given to the village that grew up there. You can feel the momentum building, can't you?

By the time September of 1885 rolled around, the village was ready to make it official. On September 12th, an election for incorporation was held, and the residents voted in favor of the proposal. Thirteen days later, on September 25th, Hunt County Judge J.

S. Sherrill granted the incorporation of the city of Commerce. Judge Sherrill then appointed W.

W. Rutland as mayor, and Rutland served in that role until the first city election, when a man by the name of Captain W. E.

Mangum was chosen for the position. The mayor had four aldermen helping him run the new city government. And Commerce?

It kept right on doing what it had always done best. Following incorporation, the city continued as a strong Hunt County commercial center. From Cow Hill to crossroads to incorporated city, the whole arc took a little over thirty years, and it all started with one man's general store sitting a mile and a half up the road.

What the marker says

The events leading up to the incorporation of the city of Commerce can be traced to the 1853 establishment of Josiah H. Jackson's general store about one and one-half miles northeast of this site. The village that developed around his store was known as Cow Hill, and it grew to be an active trading center. In 1870 a new bridge was constructed over the South Sulphur River, and traffic was diverted away from Cow Hill. Two years later, William Jernigin, a Cow Hill businessman, moved his mercantile store to a site closer to the Sulphur Springs-Bonham Highway. The crossroads near Jernigin's store became a major commercial center, and during the 1870s, the name Commerce was given to the village that grew up here. On Sept. 12, 1885, an election for incorporation was held, and the village residents voted in favor of the proposal. Incorporation of the city of Commerce was granted on Sept. 25th by Hunt County Judge J. S. Sherrill. Sherrill appointed W. W. Rutland as mayor, and he served until Capt. W. E. Mangum was chosen for that position in the first city election. The mayor was assisted in the city government by four aldermen. Following its incorporation, the city continued its activities as a strong Hunt County commercial center.