Bevilport

John Bevil was born August 24, 1784, in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, according to the Handbook of Texas, and reached Texas in the mid-1820s. He was alcalde of his municipality in 1834. The entry says he speculated in land, developing Bevilport and Jasper, and also tried to develop a townsite called City of the Pass in Jefferson County, which failed. He married Frances Boynton, and they had eight sons; she died in 1855. Bevil died on November 10, 1862, in Tyler County and was buried in Jasper County.

What the plaque says

Bevilport Important river shipping and trading point; was made seat of Bevil municipality, 1834. Named for John Bevil, Texas Ranger, a delegate (1835) to Consultation on Texas Independence, Chief Justice of Jasper County (1839), farmer. On Angelina River, Bevilport shipped cotton, hides and other East Texas products to markets in New Orleans. Its docks were busy with flatboats, keelboats-- its stores packed with travelers. Texas rivers flowing to Gulf of Mexico were favorite areas for settlement; Bevil and others prospered on rich "bottom" lands, using river as road to market. (1967)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Martin Dies, Jr. State Park — 9.6 mi
  A 705-acre state park on Steinhagen Reservoir at the meeting of the Neches and Angelina rivers, with about 14 miles of paddling trails through sloughs and more than 200 campsites.

More markers nearby

• Dixie Freedom Colony — 3.0 mi
• Dixie Baptist Church — 3.4 mi
• Here Lived Dr. Stephen H. Everitt — 3.4 mi
• Jasper Public Schools — 3.6 mi