Jacksonville's Public Square

Jacksonville's Public Square. . 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 and Gulf Shoreline 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 world war one 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 Public Square continues to be a focal point for gatherings, celebrations and special events.