Jarrell

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Jarrell, Texas — and friend, this one's got a little bit of everything. Sometime in the early 1900s, plans were drawn up for a new stretch of rail — the Bartlett and Western Railway — meant to run from Bartlett all the way down to Florence. The idea was for that line to feed into the MK&T, the Katy Railroad, which was already rolling through Bartlett every single day.

Now, railroads in those days were as good as a money printing press for wherever they decided to stop. And a Temple real estate developer by the name of Orlando D. Jarrell knew that better than most.

Here's where it gets interesting. There was already an established town sitting two miles to the south — a place called Corn Hill. The sensible route might've gone right through there.

But Jarrell had a different idea. He encouraged the railroad executives to run that line through a stretch of property that he himself leased. Now, to make the numbers work, he partnered with a Bartlett man named E.

C. Haeber, who put up the capital to purchase the property outright. Jarrell then platted a townsite and started selling lots — December 1909, the land was on the market.

By December 1911, the railroad finally arrived. And when it did, most of the folks living in Corn Hill had already packed up and moved north to the new town. Not just the people, mind you — between twenty and twenty-five actual structures were physically moved from Corn Hill to Jarrell.

Buildings, picked up and relocated. That is a town voting with its lumber. Things moved fast after that.

In 1911, a cotton buyer from Taylor named E. M. Wilson put up a mercantile, a bank, and a hardware shop right there in downtown Jarrell.

On March 8th, 1912, the post office opened its doors for the first time. The first school was a frame structure, and then in 1916 a proper two-story brick building went up. Three cotton gins hummed away processing the crop the whole town depended on.

By 1914, Jarrell had hit a peak population of five hundred people. Not bad for a town that didn't exist fifteen years prior. Then the cotton industry began its long decline through the 1920s and 1930s.

And in 1935, the Bartlett and Western Railway — the very railroad that made Jarrell possible in the first place — closed down. Population dropped from that peak of five hundred all the way down to two hundred by 1930. By 1945, it had climbed back to three hundred and fifty.

Towns have a way of holding on. But Jarrell wasn't done making history. On May 27, 1997, a tornado struck and killed twenty-seven residents, injuring many others.

The story made national news headlines. Twenty-seven lives lost in a single day in a town that size — there's no wry aside for that. It is simply a grief the town had to carry.

And carry it they did. Jarrell incorporated in 2001 and has since seen rapid population growth. A town born from a railroad deal, shaped by cotton, tested by loss, and still very much here.

That's Jarrell, Texas.

What the marker says

During the early 1900s, plans were made for the construction of the Bartlett and Western Railway to run from Bartlet to Florence. The line was to serve as a feeder to the MK&T (Katy) Railroad, which passed daily through Bartlett. Temple real estate developer Orlando D. Jarrell encouraged railroad executives to direct the route through a portion of property that he leased, rather than through the established town of Corn Hill, situated two miles to the south. Jarrell partnered with E. C. Haeber of Bartlett who provided the capital to purchase the property. Jarrell then platted a townsite and began to sell lots in December 1909. By December 1911, when the railroad finally arrived in Jarrell, most of the residents of Corn Hill had moved to the new town. In fact, between 20 and 25 structures were also moved from Corn Hill to Jarrell. In 1911, E. M. Wilson, a cotton buyer from Taylor, built a mercantile, bank, and hardware shop in downtown Jarrell. A post office was first opened in the town on March 8, 1912. Jarrell's first school was a frame structure, and a two-story brick building was constructed in 1916. Three cotton gins in Jarrell processed the crop on which the town was so dependent. However, the decline of the cotton industry during the 1920s & 1930s along with the closing of the Bartlett and Western Railway in 1935 resulted in a significant population decline. The town's 1914 peak population of 500 declined to 200 by 1930, but again grew to 350 by 1945. Jarrell made national news headlines when a May 27, 1997 tornado killed 27 residents and injured many others. The town of Jarrell carried on, incorporated in 2001, and has since experienced rapid population growth. (2009)