City of Jackson - Jackson, Alabama
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member hoteltwo
N 31° 30.465 W 087° 53.753
16R E 414928 N 3486223
Provides the history of the City of Jackson, Alabama and its early industries and educational institutions. Marker located on Commerce Street, in front of the City Hall.
Waymark Code: WMV5XP
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 02/28/2017
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member muddawber
Views: 3

Marker text:

Side 1
First home of Creek and Choctaw Indians, Jackson’s first pioneer settlers arrived about 1800. The little village was first called Republicville, then Pine Level, before its incorporation by an act of the Mississippi Territory Legislature in 1816. It was then named Jackson, after President Andrew Jackson, who was also a popular general. A plat of the town was drawn up and plots were advertised all over the South. Some of the street names, notably Commerce, Florida, Carrol and Broad, are still in existence. The town sprang up overnight and had a population of 1,500. The town made a brief decline before the coming of the railroad, in 1888, spurred Jackson’s second growth. A drawbridge span was built over the Tombigbee River when the Mobile to Birmingham Railway was constructed. With the railroad came the timbermen. The Bigbee Lumber Co., C. W. Zimmerman Manufacturing Co., Bolen Brothers, Hemphill, McGowin and Slayton, McCorquodale Brothers, and M. W. Smith were all sawmill concerns.
(Continued on other side)

Side 2
(Continued from other side)

Ochre Mining was another big business in Jackson. The clay material was used for pottery, bricks, paint, fertilizer and more. The name of Ochre Avenue is the last remnant of Sample-Williams Clay and Color Company, which shipped ochre all over the U. S. Jackson was selected as site of the First Congressional District’s Agricultural College in 1896. The street that runs north and south through a large part of Jackson is named “College Avenue” in honor of the school. A building that became Jackson High School was built on the site in 1935. That building burned in 1984.
Marker Name: City of Jackson

Marker Type: Urban

Addtional Information::
Erected by the Alabama Tourism Department and the City of Jackson.


Date Dedicated / Placed: 2010

Marker Number: N/A

Visit Instructions:
Please post a photo of you OR your GPS at the marker location. Also if you know of any additional links not already mentioned about this bit of Alabama history please include that in your log.
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