Historical Marker

Jackson County

Edna, Jackson County · Texas
Erected 1936

The county the 1936 stone describes was built on enslaved labor in the 1850s. In 1850 it had 996 people, 339 of them enslaved; by 1860 it had 2,612, and enslaved people made up nearly half, 1,194. Cultivated land grew more than eightfold, to 25,240 acres, and in 1860 the plantations produced 2,278 bales of cotton and 11,000 pounds of sugar. Cattle still came first, nearly 80,000 head by the war, and many of the enslaved worked as drovers and cowhands. The county also kept 8,937 hogs in 1860.

What the plaque says

Jackson County Home of the Karankawa Indians granted in part to Stephen F. Austin and to Martin de Leon. Settled 1824-1835 by colonists largely from Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and west of the Lavaca, Mexico. Organized as a municipality December 5, 1835. Named in honor of Andrew Jackson, president of the United States. Created a county March 17, 1836, organized in 1836 with Texana, formerly Santa Anna, county seat; Edna, county seat since 1883. In memory of John Mc Henry, Francis M. White, James Kerr, F. F. Wells, early settlers. William Menefee, Elijah Stapp, signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. William Sutherland, marytr of the Alamo; George Sutherland, John S. Menefee, James A. Sylvester, heroes of San Jacinto. Clark L. Owen, colonel in the Confederate army, and other pioneers who resided in this county before or directly after the Texas Revolution. Jackson County: average altitude 75 feet, annual rainfall 37 inches. Soil: black hogwallow, sandy loams, alluvial. Crops and products: cotton, livestock, corn, dairying, vegetables, poultry, pecans, oil and gas.

Where it stands

28.97785, -96.64723 · Directions

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