Jacob De Cordova
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QuesterMark
N 31° 33.645 W 097° 07.693
14R E 677651 N 3493268
This marker stands in Indian Spring Park just west of the Waco Suspension Bridge.
Waymark Code: WM9D4E
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/03/2010
Views: 11
Marker erected by: Texas Historical Commission
Texas Historical Commission Atlas data:
Index Entry: De Cordova, Jacob
City: Waco
County: McLennan
Subject Codes: ports; Jewish topics; land surveys, land companies, promotional towns; pioneers
Year Marker Erected: 1986
Marker Location: In suspension bridge park off University Parks Dr. (between Franklin & Washington) across convention center; Waco.
Marker Size: 27" x 42"
Marker Number: 2708
Marker Text:
(June 6, 1808 - January 26, 1868)
Born to a Jewish family in Spanishtown, Jamaica, British West Indies, Jacob De Cordova immigrated to Philadelphia about 1830. After a brief return to Jamaica where he founded a newspaper, he became engaged in trade between New Orleans and Texas. He and his brother Phineas (1819-1903) opened a shop in Galveston in 1837, then Jacob moved to Houston to establish a highly successful land agency.
When Galveston's John S. Sydnor (1812-1869) acquired a large tract of land here on the Brazos River's West Bank in 1847, De Cordova was retained to survey and sell the property. He in turn hired George Bernard Erath (1813-1891) to conduct the survey. By 1848 De Cordova obtained control of the tract and journeyed here with Erath to lay out the town of Waco. About 1849 De Cordova also was retained to sell a vast tract near here on the East Bank of the Brazos.
De Cordova donated several lots to the new town, including this Waco Spring site, the common square, and sites for numerous schools and churches. He died while formulating a scheme to industrialize the Brazos River Valley and was buried at Kimball in Bosque County (about 45 mi. NW). In 1935 De Cordova's remains were moved to the State Cemetery in Austin.
Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Incised on edge:
Sponsored by the Texas Jewish Historical Society
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