JEFFERSON, Texas (KLTV) – As we continue to celebrate America’s upcoming 250th birthday, we’re making a stop in a historic East Texas city.
Founded in 1841 thanks to a logjam on the Red River, Jefferson quickly became a vital riverport town.
“People have discovered Jefferson as this place that’s frozen in time,” historian Mitchel Whitington said.
A city scattered with historical markers, Jefferson was Texas’ largest and most significant riverport in the 1800s, with the last steamboat operating there in 1903.
“It was all because of a logjam on the Red River,” Whitington said. “It made the waterways much higher than they are now. If you go look at our river now, it’s just about big enough for a good-size bass boat to get down. In the older days, you could actually bring a steamboat.”
Whitington said Jefferson was a big factor in the Civil War, however the Civil War never came to Jefferson.
He said the city was practically untouched, free of battles, unlike others destroyed or burned — putting Jefferson in a key role at the time.
“Because there wasn’t a lot of fighting here, it became a shipping port,” Whitington said. “You could actually ship supplies out to the Confederacy.”
Whitington said a hat factory, beef-packing plant, candle factory, and shoe factory made Jefferson critical for the Trans-Mississippi area of the Civil War.
“If you go back and look at the newspapers from around the country, they talk about Jefferson just like it’s a well-known city,” Whitington said. “Just like if we’d say, ‘Miami,’ everyone knows where that is.”
And this city’s significance is not lost to the past.
“Even though you can’t get here by boat anymore, the history is still there…” Whitington said.
Nicknamed the Bed-and-Breakfast Capital of East Texas, Jefferson is home to more than 40 properties offering accommodations.
Historical museums, general stores, and estates line the streets.
“The things that were important back then are still a part of our culture,” Whitington said. “Jefferson just has a way of grabbing a hold of your heart.”
So, just how important is preserving the history of Jefferson?”
“Oh, I think it’s critical,” Whitington said. “There are other East Texas towns, and they don’t really have a history… In Jefferson, all the little pieces of its history are still remembered.”
Whitington said roots run deep in Jefferson.
“I’ve lived here 23 years, and I’m still a newcomer.”
Speaking of new…
“I hope we stay like we are!”
Along with being a historian, Whitington is a board member of the Jefferson Historical Museum, which is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day.
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