Jourdan Campbell

Duane's take

The marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Now, if you've ever rolled through Atascosa County and found yourself pulling into Jourdanton, maybe stoppin' for gas or a bite to eat, you might have wondered about that name on the water tower. Well, settle in, because this story goes back to before that town existed at all.

By 1870, the Campbell family had made their way to Atascosa County. Jourdan Campbell was born in 1867, and his father, John Campbell, founded a little place called Campbellton. So you could say roots ran deep in this family when it came to puttin' names on the map.

Deep roots indeed. Jourdan grew up, got himself established, and in the 1890s became a county commissioner. He married Alice Louise Marr in 1897, and together they raised eight children.

A busy household, and a busy man. Now here's where the story starts to take shape. In 1907, Jourdan Campbell and a man by the name of Colonel T.

H. Zanderson went and bought the Tobey Ranch. Not a small piece of ground, either.

Thirty-three thousand, seven hundred and sixty acres. Part of that land would eventually become the town of Jourdanton. Once the town was formed, Campbell wasn't the kind of man to sit back and watch from the porch.

He became vice president of the bank and lobbied hard for a railroad. In 1910, Jourdanton became the Atascosa County seat. A town born from ranch land, now the seat of the whole county.

And Campbell kept pushin'. He supported a sixty-five mile hardtop highway project that would link Jourdanton to the principal communities of Atascosa County. Sixty-five miles of road, connecting people, commerce, and a county together.

The marker calls him the driving force behind Jourdanton's creation, prosperity, and growth. Jourdan Campbell lived until 1938, long enough to see what that land, and that vision, had become. Some men build houses.

Every now and then, one builds a county seat.

What the marker says

JOURDAN CAMPBELL JOURDAN CAMPBELL (1867-1938) AND HIS FAMILY MOVED TO ATASCOSA COUNTY BY 1870; HIS FATHER JOHN CAMPBELL FOUNDED CAMPBELLTON. JOURDAN MARRIED ALICE LOUISE MARR IN 1897 AND THE COUPLE HAD EIGHT CHILDREN. JOURDAN BECAME COUNTY COMMISSIONER IN THE 1890s, AND IN 1907 WITH COL. T. H. ZANDERSON BOUGHT THE 33,760 ACRE TOBEY RANCH, PART OF WHICH WOULD BECOME JOURDANTON. ONCE THE TOWN WAS FORMED, CAMPBELL WAS VICE PRESIDENT OF THE BANK AND LOBBIED FOR A RAILROAD. JOURDANTON BECAME ATASCOSA COUNTY SEAT IN 1910. CAMPBELL ALSO SUPPORTED A 65-MILE HARDTOP HIGHWAY PROJECT LINKING JOURDANTON TO THE PRINCIPAL COMMUNITIES OF ATASCOSA COUNTY. JOURDAN CAMPBELL WAS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND JOURDANTON’S CREATION, PROSPERITY AND GROWTH. 175 YEARS OF TEXAS INDEPENDENCE * 1836-2011