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16. Market Area
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212 Jefferson’s market area was the geographic region that exported agricultural commodities and imported merchandise through Jefferson . Exports through Jefferson were based on supply factors in the market area and particularly on the production of cotton and cattle and cattle products. Imports through Jefferson were based on demand factors in the market area that were constituted by the needs of interior merchants, planters, and citizens. The geographic extent of Jefferson’s market area did not change over time. The town grew because of population and production increases in its market area, which were driven by cotton agriculture. Jefferson’s commercial primacy was determined by its geographic location, a fact recognized by Josiah Gregg in 1841, before the town came into existence. Gregg was at the emerging town of Smithland six miles downstream of the townsite of Jefferson and noted that if the bayou could be cleared of obstructions above Smithland, “Jefferson would take all of the western business.” As the highest port on Cypress Bayou, Jefferson was positioned to capture all of the trade to the west. This was not because of any unique services offered by the town or the acumen of its businessmen, but rather because of the high cost of overland transport compared to water transport. Exporters in the region sought the nearest water outlet, and importers sought the nearest water inlet. Cypress Bayou extended far into the interior, and Jefferson was well upstream at the head of potential steamboat navigation. It had a captive market area. 16. MarKet area 213 Market Area Geographic determination in commercial activity implies an absence of competition. A new town like Jefferson could secure business that had previously gone to another port town like Shreveport; but after its establishment it could do very little to take more business away, and there was very little that Shreveport could do to recapture what it had lost. There was, of course, merchandise price competition among merchants in different towns as well as within towns such as Jefferson. But if an interior buyer was able to get a better price at Shreveport than at Jefferson, the savings were generally obviated by the difference between overland and waterborne transport costs. The absence of competition between these two towns was stated forcefully by the October 15, 1858, Marshall Texas Republican: Now we have no idle prejudices against Shreveport, nor are we at all interested in the spirit of hostility engendered between that place and Jefferson. There is really no rivalry between the two towns. Each has its appropriate commercial sphere, which personal bickerings or invidious editorials cannot disturb. Jefferson commands the trade of a country extending from 150 to 200 miles into the interior, and which cannot be diverted to Shreveport; while the latter place, in like manner, possesses the trade of a thickly settled and wealthy section that would continue to trade there if Jefferson were ten times its present size. Cotton was the most important export commodity and was handled by receiving and forwarding merchants. These merchants operated on the basis of prevailing commission rates and did not engage in price competition with respect to their services. Their advertisements emphasized the quality of their services (e.g., ability to advance cash on cotton brought to them) and never mentioned service costs. Cost elements in their advertisements always relate to their collateral activities as wholesale and retail dealers in merchandise. The ports and landings along the steamboat route from Shreveport to Jefferson commanded specific market areas depending on their geographic locations. Shreveport’s primary market area was to the [13.58.82.79] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 21:20 GMT) 214 Antebellum Jefferson, Texas east, north, south, and southwest. Swanson’s Landing, Port Caddo, and Benton were primary centers for Harrison County imports and exports. Monterey and Smithland captured a portion of the trade to the north. Jefferson’s market area was primarily to the north, west, and northwest. Jefferson’s market area to the north reached up to and beyond the Red River. Jefferson’s ability to participate in the export trade of this area was dependent on water conditions on the upper Red River. When steamboats were able to reach the upper Red River, this trade was carried out between the upper Red River ports and New Orleans. When the upper Red River was not navigable, which was often the case, the export trade of the area to the north proceeded largely through Jefferson. Because the upper Red River counties were among...