Pharr

9781467131377

$24.99

The All-America City of Pharr was incorporated in 1916 and holds precedence as the heart of the Rio Grande Valley. The late Henry Newton Pharr, a sugarcane grower, engineer, and manufacturer, along with his partner John C. Kelly, founded the city for their interest in establishing a sugarcane empire. This borderland is located approximately eight miles from the mighty Rio Grande, and it prospered to become the ideal agricultural grounds that attracted star investors from as far as Louisiana. Pharr benefitted from the fruit and vegetable boom, the introduction of the railroad, great feats in civic progress, and success in international commerce. Now, Pharr is the only city in the state of Texas to be designated as a "Triple Crown City." Pharr's feats include the Preserve America City, National Main Street City, and All-America City awards.

Fort Worth's Oakhurst Neighborhood

9781467131162

$24.99

In 1924, civic leader and developer John P. King promoted Fort Worth's Oakhurst neighborhood as "country life for the city man." He appealed to those who wanted space for artesian water, cool breezes, gardens in a hillside setting, and a utopian atmosphere for their children. King--the creator of a confectionery company known for "King's candies for American queens"--made a park-like neighborhood in a part of Riverside just a few miles from downtown Fort Worth. Thoughtful landscape design and charming architecture are hallmarks of this all-American neighborhood, beloved for its small-town, community feel well into its 90th year.

Legendary Locals of Grand Prairie

9781467102179

$24.99

Grand Prairie is a city on the edge. Citizens have been innovators with a love for family and community. Alexander Dechmann traded land to insure a railroad depot; early settlers started schools for their families; and the police department hired one of the first women. Leaders at nonprofits such as Brighter Tomorrows not only helped the local community, but also helped develop services in surrounding communities. Business owners and volunteers have strong family traditions of giving back to Grand Prairie, and civil servants have loyalties for extended years of service, such as Ruthe Jackson and her family, who provided support for both businesses and the community. From the early settlers to today's city, Grand Prairie is built upon loyalty.

Forty Years at El Paso

9780738594590

$21.99

Recollections of war, politics, adventure, events, narratives, sketches, etc. These writings are meant to be truthful, but they are too rambling and egotistical to possess much historical value. Few subjects are treated of except such as the writer was personally connected with or in which he felt a special interest. Much that he was tempted to write has been omitted out of consideration for the living and the dead and their relations. The book will have little interest except for those who know something of El Paso or of the men and events treated of, or of the writer himself. For such only is it written.

Waco, Texas:

9780738502977

$24.99

From the 1890s through the 1920s, the postcard was an extraordinarily popular means of communication, and many of the postcards produced during this "golden age" can today be considered works of art. Postcard photographers traveled the length and breadth of the nation snapping photographs of busy
street scenes, documenting local landmarks, and assembling crowds of local townspeople only too happy to pose for a picture. These images, printed as postcards and sold in general stores across the country, survive as telling reminders of an important era in America's history.

Oklahoma's Bennie Owen:

9781626199491

$24.99

Before Bob and Barry, even before Bud, there was Bennie, and he might have been the best of them all. He was certainly the most innovative. Best remembered as the mentor of the University of Oklahoma's football team from 1905 through 1926, Bennie Owen also coached baseball and basketball and served as the director of athletics. He retired as intramural director at the age of seventy-five. A visionary and a builder, he exerted the driving force that created the university's Memorial Stadium, one field house, Memorial Union building, men's swimming pool, baseball field and bleachers, concrete tennis courts, nine-hole golf course and intramural playing fields. A true man of all seasons, he laid the foundation for a Sooner tradition of excellence--in football and beyond.

Cherokee County

9780738530161

$24.99

In central East Texas, the contours of the Angelina and Neches Rivers shape the natural borders of Cherokee County, and the landscape--of fertile soil and dense timber--that defines this region of the Lone Star state is as rich as its history. Now home to the cities of Jacksonville, Rusk, Alto, and their outlying communities, the area was once settled by the 12,000-year-old Clovis culture. Later, the Caddo Nation prospered here until European settlement and expansion brought the land into dispute on all sides. Despite efforts toward peace, violent instability culminated in the Killough Massacre on October 5, 1838, prompting the Cherokee War of 1839 and the eventual expulsion of the Cherokee from the area, the people who would become the county's namesake. Agricultural and economic developments over the next century have helped transform Cherokee County into an unspoiled destination for "winter Texans," while its historical significance and one-of-a-kind charm remain well guarded by the more than 45,000 citizens who call it home today.

Grand Canyon's Tusayan Village

9780738578903

$24.99

With the glamorous Grand Canyon as its backyard, Tusayan has a fascinating history. Dedicated just one year after the Grand Canyon National Park, the village of Tusayan had its humble beginnings in 1920 as a small sheep ranch operated by the Hull brothers. Tusayan quickly became a hub for the millions of travelers who made their way to the Grand Canyon each year. The two areas share a mutual school, a health care center, and other amenities. Other pioneers, such as R. P. Thurston, helped ensure the area's longevity with the addition of Highway 64 through the center of the village and the arrival of the Grand Canyon Airport, making Tusayan one of the most visited little towns in northern Arizona.

Around Farmersville

9780738579719

$24.99

In 1900, due to its cotton production, Farmersville was the wealthiest Texas town of its size, with a population of 1,856. Originally called Sugar Hill, the town gradually moved to another location a few miles away. Because most residents during those years survived by farming and raising their own food, they named their community Farmersville. Fortunate to have such rich black soil, Farmersville became a hub of cotton production. During the 1920s and 1930s, onions became the money crop. Nearly every farmer had onions planted, and 1,000 railroad cars a year were filled with onions that shipped throughout the nation. Farmersville had certainly lived up to its name. In later years, farming declined in Collin County, but the town has adjusted to that loss and thrives today without forgetting its farming roots.

Krum

9780738579917

$24.99

Krum is one of the crown jewels of North Texas. Located north of Fort Worth and just west of Denton, Krum was once famous for an award-winning strain of wheat. The town even established three grain mills to accommodate wheat production. Over a million pounds of grain were shipped in 1900, when Krum was known as the largest wagon grain market in the United States. The town now serves northwest Denton County as a center for agricultural, financial, and emergency services, with its citizens as Krum's major asset. Descendants of many of the original settlers are still here by preference and are proud to tell the world they live in Krum. Why go anywhere else?

Baseball in Albuquerque

9780738579641

$24.99

Albuquerque, New Mexico, is more than a refueling place for motorists on I-40. Professional baseball has been played here for more than 70 years, and fans have had the opportunity to see future Dodgers stars like Don Sutton, Ron Cey, Steve Garvey, Orel Hershiser, Eric Karros, and Mike Piazza hone their skills. Hall of Fame members Tom Lasorda and Duke Snider managed here; Darryl Strawberry, Eddie Murray, and Manny Ramirez have spent short stints "rehabbing" here; and big-league preseason games played in Albuquerque give fans a chance to see non-Dodgers favorites. Albuquerque is also where the Los Angeles Dodgers' triple-A farm team, the Albuquerque Isotopes, played before 600,000 fans in 2009, when the Dodgers "returned" after a nine-year absence. Isotopes Park, a baseball jewel, features great entertainment, a gorgeous view of the majestic Sandia Mountains, and a chance for baseball fans to see major league stars of tomorrow.

Mexicans in Scottsdale

9780738548265

$24.99

Though their role in the history of Scottsdale's development has been marginalized over the years, Mexicano residents made many important contributions to the city's establishment and growth. In the early 1900s, businessman E. O. Brown recruited Mexicanos from Arizona border towns to work in the area's cotton fields and on the farms. These laborers were the first people to live in the neighborhood that now makes up the center of Old Scottsdale. Some called it the "barrio," but Scottsdale Mexicanos called the area "home." Today only a few buildings remain that can attest to the neighborhood's original inhabitants, most notably the Old Adobe Mission and Coronado School, now the home of the Scottsdale Historical Museum. The preservation of these buildings and the more than 200 photographs included in this book are just a few of the testaments to Scottsdale's fascinating Mexican heritage.

Tempe

9780738548883

$24.99

Home to 165,000 residents (within a 40 square mile radius), the city of Tempe is surrounded by the booming cities of Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Chandler. But the Salt River Valley area was once populated with just a few small farms, when Charles Trumbull Hayden, owner of a mercantile and freighting business in Tucson, homesteaded here in 1870. The community he established--Hayden's Ferry--soon became the trade center for the south side of the valley. Hayden's Ferry became Tempe in 1879 at the suggestion of Englishman Darrell Duppa, who commented that the area reminded him of the Vale of Tempe in Greece, and it was not long before other developments promoted the growth of this new town. In 1885, the Arizona legislature selected Tempe as the site for the Territorial Normal School, the predecessor of Arizona State University. The Maricopa and Phoenix Railroad, which crossed the Salt River at Tempe, was built in 1887, and in 1911, the Roosevelt Dam was completed. World War II, the creation of Tempe Town Lake, and other 20th-century events also influenced the growth and character of Tempe, now Arizona's seventh largest city.

The Wigwam Resort

9780738548258

$24.99

The evolution of an arid desert area into the verdant oasis that is the Wigwam Resort was ultimately brought about by an unlikely crop needed by an important American corporation in the early 20th century. The crop was long-staple cotton and the corporation was the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. When the U.S. Department of Agriculture discovered that Arizona's Salt River Valley was an ideal location to domestically grow long-staple cotton, Goodyear purchased 16,000 acres in the desert west of Phoenix to cultivate the crop for their newly developed pneumatic tire. The company built a three-room lodge, originally called the "Organization House," for the executives that came to oversee the farming operations. The location became a popular winter retreat within the company, and in 1929, Goodyear expanded the facilities and opened "The Wigwam" as a hotel. As the years progressed, amenities such as golf and fine dining were added, and the Wigwam Resort became one of the premier luxury destinations in the Southwest.

Southern Arizona Military Outposts

9780738579924

$24.99

In the 1840s, the powerful pull of Manifest Destiny brought the U.S. Army to today's southern Arizona. The first forces came as a vanguard marching westward to conquer California, but soon their comrades returned. They would establish a string of outposts, a few of which remain more than a century after their founding. These installations greatly contributed to local military, economic, social, and even political history. Their inhabitants included noted 19th-century generals George Crook and Nelson A. Miles, as well as a later officer, Omar Bradley of World War II fame. Some of these men brought their families to share the often lonely, monotonous existence of life at a frontier fort. Occasionally their routine was broken by grueling field service that more than once sent troops southward on to Mexican soil where they suffered and sometimes died. Among these stalwarts were buffalo soldiers, Indian scouts, and new arrivals fresh from Europe.

Legendary Locals of Rockwall

9781467101899

$24.99

Since its founding in 1854, Rockwall has been home to dedicated public servants, pioneer personalities, hometown heroes, successful business owners, devoted educators, and hardworking farmers. Containing more than 100 profiles of Rockwall's interesting and influential citizens, Legendary Locals of Rockwall includes the stories of Confederate veteran John Summerfield Griffith, who rode on horseback to Austin to gain the original charter for Rockwall County; long-tenured office holders such as Lannie Stimpson, who served 53 years in office, and Derwood Wimpee, who served 35 years; a long list of educators, including Maurine Cain, Dorothy Smith Pullen, Ouida Springer, and Doris Cullins, who influenced generations of Rockwall students; and business professionals such as newspaper publishers P.J. and Jane Bounds, local developer and philanthropist Raymond Cameron, and Texas's first formally trained female dentist, Dr. Jessie Castle LaMoreaux. In addition, Rockwall has long honored its agricultural heritage by naming roads after farming families who influenced the region. The names Bourn, Rochell, Cornelius, Clem, and Smirl, among others, will be familiar to those who travel the roads of Rockwall County.

Durant

9780738590981

$24.99

Durant, the seat of Bryan County, is located in southeastern Oklahoma only 10 miles from Lake Texoma, one of the largest man-made lakes in the United States; it is also about 17 miles from the Red River and the Texas border. Durant, a beautiful city with many magnolia trees lining its streets, has officially been recognized by the Oklahoma Legislature as the "Magnolia Capital of Oklahoma." The annual Magnolia Festival is attended by tens of thousands of people and offers a wide variety of family-oriented activities.

Corrales

9780738584539

$24.99

Nestled in the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico, Corrales received its name from the corrals used by settlers on the 1710 Alameda land grant. Descendants of the grant holder, Juan Gonzales Bas, and others settled there and weathered frontier hardships and challenges: a small pox epidemic, floods, Native American raids, the loss of an old church and the building of a new one, and the never-ending demands of agricultural survival. Corrales became known for its vineyards and wines after French and Italian farmers put down roots at the end of the 19th century. After World War II, this isolated, bucolic village was discovered by Albuquerque's burgeoning population. Prominent among the newcomers were professionals and artists seeking inexpensive land in a beautiful setting. Corrales then became an artistic and free-thinking community. It remains a verdant, lively, and semirural suburban oasis sandwiched between Albuquerque, New Mexico's largest city, and Rio Rancho, the state's fastest-growing city.

Denton County

9780738584522

$24.99

The history of Denton County, founded in 1846, has been well preserved through postcards. These images, produced from vintage photographs and artist renditions, reflect a time when communication through postcards was quicker, easier, and less expensive than writing a letter. Inside this book, readers are treated to charming snapshots of local history depicting churches, the downtown public square, businesses, public schools, the two newly created universities, railroad depots, trolleys, the earliest automobiles, and some of Denton County's most familiar town views and tourist attractions.

Roanoke

9780738584584

$24.99

The first pioneers who came to the Roanoke area in 1844 were led by Lewis and Charles Medlin of Missouri. This group consisted of about 20 families, including the 10 sons of the Medlin brothers. They came for an opportunity where each married man could obtain 640 acres and single men could receive 320 acres. Settlers were primarily looking for water, timber, and abundant game, which they found near Denton Creek. They built log houses and a school (where church was held), and they soon began businesses to sustain their new town. Today Roanoke is a fast growing, small city that is distinguished by a charming and eclectic downtown and steady lines of hungry diners. Roanoke was appointed "the Unique Dining Capital of Texas" for its concentration of delicious and entertaining family-owned restaurants and welcomes thousands of visitors each year to enjoy many special events, including the annual Celebrate Roanoke in October.

The Jefferson Highway in Oklahoma: The Historic Osage Trace

9781467136334

$21.99

Oklahoma's central location makes it a natural crossroads, and the trails of yesterday became the superhighways of today. Perhaps the best example is Route 69, also known as the Jefferson Highway. The paved highway was begun in 1915, but its course was heavily traveled for centuries before that. Engineers could map no better path than the generations who cut it through the wilderness out of necessity. Author Jonita Mullins leads a journey along this ancient way that recalls some of Oklahoma's most important history and celebrates some of its most fascinating characters.

The Jefferson Highway in Oklahoma: The Historic Osage Trace

Yavapai County

9781467124508

$24.99

In 1864, Arizona was divided into four counties named after the local Indian communities: Yavapai, Yuma, Mohave, and Pima. Believed to have been the largest county ever created in the lower 48 states at the time, Yavapai encompassed over 65,000 square miles until 1891, when the state was divided into additional counties. Yavapai finally settled to 8,125 square miles. While still a US territory in 1900, Yavapai County had a population just under 13,800 people and was quite remote. Within a few years, postcards started appearing in drugstores, such as Brisley, Timerhoff, Owl, Heit, Corbin and Bork, or Eagle Drug in Prescott and Lynn Boyd or Mitchell in Jerome. Many of the original postcards showcase early mines, towns, and buildings that no longer exist today.

Texas Citrus Fiesta

9781467131544

$24.99

The Texas Citrus Fiesta has remained an exciting celebration since its beginnings in 1932. At that time, Mission civic leaders decided to promote the citrus industry through a festival featuring decorated streets and store windows, a parade, coronation of a king and queen, a court with ladies-in-waiting, a queen's ball, exhibits for citrus growers, and a variety of contests and activities. Social leaders, working through their clubs, added a style show of costumes covered with fruit, vegetable, and flower pieces. Children marched in their own unique parade. The Golden Grapefruit Golf Tournament was added in 1934. Today, directors of the Texas Citrus Fiesta continue these traditional events and others added since 1932. The creativity inspired by the festival, the recognition of regional participants, and the experienced planning needed to accommodate thousands of residents and visitors combine to make Mission's annual Texas Citrus Fiesta a premier event in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

Warren Ballpark

9780738596433

$24.99

If there is a place where the ghosts of baseball players come at night to relive their glory days, it is Warren Ballpark in the old copper-mining town of Bisbee, Arizona. Warren Ballpark has been in use as a sports facility since 1909--longer than any other ballpark in the United States. Some of the most colorful and notable figures in baseball history have stepped onto its field as barnstorming big leaguers or as minor-league players hoping to make their way up to the "Big Show." Several players implicated in the infamous 1919 "Black Sox" scandal played in an "outlaw" league at Warren Ballpark during the 1920s. In 1917, it was the holding facility for 1,500 striking copper miners rounded up during the Bisbee Deportation. It is also the site of one of the longest-running and most bitterly contested high school football rivalries in America, between the Bisbee Pumas and the Douglas Bulldogs.

Legendary Locals of Buckeye

9781467102001

$24.99

In 1884, Malie Monroe Jackson began and named a canal Buckeye in honor of his native state, Ohio, the Buckeye state. In 1886, Thomas Newton Clanton added 10 miles to the canal. The following year, he applied for a post office, and on March 10, 1888, the post office, named Buckeye, was established. Clanton platted a townsite and named the town Sidney, though why he chose that name remains a mystery. Beginning in 1910, advances in transportation put the community on the map, and Sidney became Buckeye. Hugh Watson, founder of the Buckeye Valley Bank, became the town's first mayor in 1929. On January 1, 2014, Buckeye became the newest city in Arizona. This newest volume also celebrates today's Buckeye settlers, such as Levi Beard, Tony Youngker, Clemie Arnold, and Bob Doster, DVM, updating Buckeye's colorful history of notable residents.

Around La Porte

9780738584904

$24.99

The city of La Porte and the surrounding communities are laden with historical events and characters. Pioneers began settling 10 years before the Battle of San Jacinto, where Texas gained its independence. The land that was to become the cities of Morgan's Point, Shoreacres, Lomax, and La Porte was home to such Texas luminaries as Gen. Sidney Sherman, Gov. Ross Sterling, Andrew Jackson Houston, and James Morgan. The beauty of the area attracted legions of summer visitors, including Sam Houston and Dr. Ashbel Smith. Years later, pioneers of the Texas oil industry looked to the shores of Galveston Bay in La Porte to entertain and build summer places. La Porte was legally organized January 1, 1892, and for over a century of ups and downs has remained steadfast in preserving the natural beauty that is its legacy, the friendliness that is its nature, and the educational excellence to which the city's founders aspired. Today, La Porte is a unique combination of quaint small-town living with big-city amenities.

The Austin Dam Disaster of 1900

9781467127455

$24.99

The Austin Dam Disaster of 1900 recreates the era of Gay Nineties Austin, then--as now--a city on the rise and on the make. In 1891, at the behest of ambitious city fathers, the little city of just 15,000 people gambled its future on a project of breathtaking size--a massive hydroelectric dam across the Colorado River. This book follows the epic construction project and the brief golden era of the pleasure resort at Lake McDonald. Though troubled and controversial from the get-go, the dam embodied all of Austin's dreams. Then, on Friday, April 6, 1900, it began to rain . . .

Wickenburg

9780738585048

$24.99

Once known as the "Dude Ranch Capital of the World," Wickenburg, Arizona, has had many lives since its founding during the Civil War years. When German immigrant Henry Wickenburg discovered the Vulture Gold Mine in the fall of 1863 and put down roots as a miner and farmer, he also set down the beginnings of the city that would be named in his honor. Early residents and visitors included miners, ranchers, gunslingers, newspaper editors, and saloon keepers. Families made their way to town in the early 20th century and opened businesses, established churches and a library, and sent their children to local schools. In the 1930s, dude ranches blossomed in and around the city limits and tourists were enchanted by the real Wild West ambience. As the century progressed, people remained in town for generations, while newcomers regularly moved in to enjoy Wickenburg's desert setting and modern amenities.

Mexican American Baseball in the Alamo Region

9781467133388

$24.99

Mexican American Baseball in the Alamo Region celebrates the game as it was played in the Tejano and Tejana communities throughout Texas. This regional focus explores the importance of the game at a time when Spanish-speaking people were demanding cultural acceptance and their political and civil rights in cities like San Antonio, Corpus Christi, New Braunfels, San Diego, Kingsville, and Pleasanton. All had thriving Mexican American communities that found comfort in the game and pride in their abilities on the field. On these pages are historical images and wonderful stories that are now immortalized, taking their rightful place in the annuals of the game. ¡Viva Tejas, Viva Béisbol, y Viva los Peloteros!

Lost Restaurants of Tucson

9781467118859

$21.99

From western roadhouses to fine dining, Tucson boasts an extraordinary lineup of diverse restaurants. Though some of its greatest no longer exist, their stories conjure the sights, smells and sounds of the city's history. Longtime locals still buzz about Gordo's famous chimichangas, an accidental dish originating in Tucson. The legendary Tack Room was a beacon of fine dining. Places like Café Terra Cotta and Fuego pioneered a new southwestern cuisine, serving regional dishes like prickly pear pork and stuffed poblanos. University of Arizona alumni miss old spots like the Varsity, while long-gone haunts like Gus & Andy's attracted a unique crowd of businessmen, movie stars and the occasional mobster. Join local food writer Rita Connelly as she serves up savory stories of good food and good company from the gone but never forgotten favorites of the Old Pueblo.

Education in Albuquerque

9781467131032

$24.99

A mix of cultures unique to any space in North America funneled into the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area after Spanish invaders stumbled in through the south in 1506. For centuries, indigenous Americans had established ways of knowing and transmitting learning to their young, but colliding old and new cultures left the area's learning communities irrevocably changed. Subsequently, other native tribes and more European, South American, and Asian cultures proudly ported their perceived best practices concerning educating youth into the area. In 1880, the railroad, bolstered by powerful Anglo economic forces, blasted into Albuquerque, carrying new cultures clinging to the railcars: Greeks, Italians, Germans, Jews of many heritages, English, Easterners, Southerners, a host of cowboys, farmers, merchants, and more--all shadowed by motivated politicians. The founding, unfolding, and evolution of educational systems in Albuquerque weaves a crazy-quilt story regarding public, private, and parochial schooling--as well as regrettably ill-founded systems that wronged natives.

Rural Life in Murray County

9781467113915

$24.99

Located in south central Oklahoma, Murray County consists of 420 square miles of rolling hills, some of the world's most unusual rock outcroppings and formations, and mountainous areas that have for centuries led to severe weather conditions such as high winds, lightning, and tornadoes. The area has produced some amazingly rugged and tough people who have called Murray County home for generations. Images of America: Rural Life in Murray County tells the story of how they lived, what they produced on their farms, how they entertained themselves, and how they learned to improve their communities. In the early 1930s, when one of the most severe droughts on record produced the Dust Bowl and the nation was in a state of economic depression, the beginning of the Oklahoma A&M Cooperative Extension took root in Murray County, bringing economic change, improving living conditions, and providing educational opportunities to the rural farm families of Murray County.

Baseball in Tulsa

9780738523323

$24.99

The rich tradition and history of professional baseball are brought to life in Baseball in Tulsa. Wayne McCombs traces Tulsa's baseball past from the cow pastures of Indian Territory into the 21st century. The book documents the struggle many players endure in the coveted quest to become a major league baseball player. Showcasing a collection of over 170 rare photographs, this new volume vividly documents the sport that makes Tulsa one of the best minor league cities in America. See all the greats from the original Tulsa Oilers through today's Tulsa Drillers, including hall-of-famers Satchel Paige, Frank Robinson, Steve Carlton, Dizzy Dean, and Warren Spahn-each of these legends either played or coached in Tulsa.

The Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education

9781467130820

$24.99

For the past 40 years, the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE) has been on the forefront of advocacy to improve opportunity in higher education for US persons of Mexican origin. Chicano faculty at the University of Texas, together with a few Chicano students, organized the group's first gatherings in 1974, and since then, TACHE has held thematic annual conferences that signal its mission and program focus and allow professional networking. Chicano faculty and students in colleges and universities have increased, but much still remains to be done. Although funding for education is drastically being cut, Chicano and Latino students are at the front door of higher education, and the number of college-ready students is reaching significant levels across the nation. The official designation of Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), for schools with Chicano and Latino student enrollment in excess of 25 percent, has become a badge of honor among colleges and universities.

Jefferson

9780738585321

$24.99

Jefferson, Texas, began as a simple ferry crossing on the Big Cypress Bayou. By 1841, Allen Urquhart had realized the potential for a town at this spot and purchased 640 acres. Daniel Alley bought the adjacent tract, and the city of Jefferson was born. The town flourished as a steamship port during the 1800s and became the second-largest city in Texas. Steamboats from as far south as New Orleans would dock in Jefferson, unloading travelers and freight before taking on new cargo and starting on the return trip. When the water levels in the bayou eventually fell, Jefferson was no longer accessible by steamship, and the population began to dwindle. Many saw this as the end of the city. However, the 1960s brought a rebirth to the town, and today Jefferson shares its rich history with travelers from across the nation.