DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Jacksonville's Public Square. Now settle in, because this one starts with a soldier, ends with a park, and takes about a hundred and fifty years to get there — and every twist along the way is worth the ride. Jackson Smith was a Republic of Texas soldier and scout who first explored the Gum Creek area back in 1838.
He came, he looked, and then — apparently satisfied with what he saw — he left. But he came back. In 1847, Smith returned and built himself a house and a blacksmith shop, joining F.C.
Hardgraves, James G. Earle, David Templeton, and others who had already started putting down roots in the area. The following year, 1848, Smith became the first postmaster of Gum Creek.
Two years after that, the name changed to Jacksonville. Smith platted a town, and that town grew — dozens of stores and houses, churches, schools, a hotel. Not bad for a place that started as a blacksmith shop on a creek.
Now here's where the story gets that particular Texas flavor of somebody moving the whole town. In 1871, the International Railroad Company surveyed their new line — and they put it a mile to the northeast of Jacksonville. A woman named Sarah Fry sold the railroad 75 acres, with one condition: a depot would be located on the tract, at a place that came to be called Fry's Summit.
And just like that, most of the residents and businesses in what became known as Old Jacksonville bought lots and moved themselves to the new townsite. The International Railroad Company platted that new townsite, donating lots for churches and schools, and donating Block 153 — bounded by Bolton, Main, Rusk, and Larissa streets — to the citizens of Jacksonville as a public square. A gift.
Ground given over to the people. Then, in 1883, tracks were built diagonally across that very square for the narrow-gauge Kansas and Gulf Shortline Railroad. That alignment later became part of the Cotton Belt system.
The rails are gone now, but the earth remembers — there's still a depression running through the park where those tracks once cut across the square. The square itself kept growing, kept changing. Tree planting in the 1880s.
A frame bandstand and a city water tower completed in the 1900s. A World War One doughboy statue, dedicated in 1928, and later memorials to follow — quiet reminders, right there in the middle of town, of the sacrifices local veterans made. The 1930s brought New Deal projects: a stone bandstand, which stood until the 1960s when it was demolished to make room for a fire station; and a public library, which later became the Vanishing Texana Museum.
The square was later dedicated as Hazel Tilton Park, and it continues to be a focal point for gatherings, celebrations, and special events to this day. Jackson Smith explored that creek in 1838 not knowing he was standing at the future center of a town that would move itself, lay railroad tracks through its own park, and keep on growing anyway. That's the kind of ground Texas tends to be.
What the marker says
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 others had started a community. Smith became the first postmaster of Gum Creek in 1848. Two years later, the name changed to Jacksonville. Smith platted a town which eventually grew to dozens of stores and houses plus churches, schools and a hotel. In 1871, the International Railroad Company surveyed their new line a mile to the northeast of Jacksonville. Sarah Fry sold the railroad 75 acres providing that a depot would be located on the tract at Fry's Summit. Most residents and businesses in what became Old Jacksonville bought lots and moved to the new townsite. The International Railroad Company platted a new townsite, donating lots for churches and schools, and donating Block 153, bounded by Bolton, Main, Rusk and Larissa streets, to the citizens of Jacksonville as a public square. In 1883, tracks were built diagonally across the square for the narrow-gauge Kansas & Gulf Shortline Railroad. The alignment, later part of the Cotton Belt system, is still seen in a depression running through the park after the rails were removed. Over many years, several park improvements became part of the square's cultural landscape. Early enhancements included tree planting in the 1880s, and a frame bandstand and city water tower completed in the 1900s. A WWI doughboy statue dedicated in 1928 and later memorials recall the sacrifices of local veterans. New Deal projects from the 1930s included a stone bandstand, demolished in the 1960s to make room for a fire station; and a public library, which later became the Vanishing Texana Museum. Later dedicated as Hazel Tilton Park, Jacksonville's Public Square continues to be a focal point for gatherings, celebrations and special events. (2021)