Jackson Smith

Historical marker location:

Jacksonville, Texas

( city cemetery in Jacksonville)

Marker installed: 1986

A blacksmith by trade, Kentuckian Jackson Smith came to Texas in the 1830s and participated in the War for Independence. He later visited this area as a Republic of Texas scout. In the 1840s, he settled southwest of here in the Gum Creek community. Near there he platted a townsite he called Jacksonville. Smith served as a Confederate officer in the Civil War. In 1872, Jacksonville was moved to its present site along the new railroad.

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The first oil well in the United States was drilled in Texas in 1859. The discovery of oil transformed the economy of the state and helped to make Texas one of the wealthiest states in the nation.