Antebellum Jefferson, Texas: Everyday Life in an East Texas Town

10. Roads and Bridges

140 Roads The county commissioners courts were responsible for road maintenance and the licensing of ferries and bridges. Because they did not have staffs for road work, these responsibilities were allocated to the landholders in the vicinity of the road segment that was being created or improved. The actual work was done by slaves. It is possible to gain a fairly precise understanding of old road systems because persons and landmarks are named in connection with road work in the minutes of the commissioners’ meetings. Unfortunately, there are no records for Bowie County for the 1840–1845 period. Harrison County records, which cover development south of Cypress Bayou, begin in July 1843, and Cass County records begin in July 1846. The only roads preceding the development of Jefferson in 1845 were the road from Daingerfield and the Big Cypress Valley Road from Alley’s Mills, both of which entered the townsite from the northwest. The former crossed over Cypress Bayou at the foot of Houston Street by ferry, and the latter crossed the bayou by ferry in the proximity of the present-day railroad. The formation of the town in 1845 initiated a flurry of activity in road construction, extension, and repair that is recorded in the minutes of the Cass County commissioners court. The major features of Jefferson’s early road system were completed by 1850 (Fig. 10-1). These include: 1. The road south out of Jefferson at Houston Street to Marshall. 10. RoaDs anD briDGes 141 Roads and Bridges This road crossed Little Cypress Bayou about three-fourths of a mile west of Highway 59 by ferry and later by bridge. 2. The road southeast out of Jefferson at Houston Street to Greenwood and Shreveport, with linkages along the way to the Big Cypress Bayou ports of Benton and Port Caddo. This road crossed Little Cypress Bayou about three-fourths of a mile east of Highway 49 by ferry and then by bridge, intersected the road from Marshall to Port Caddo, and ran through the Webster plantation southwest of Leigh. Fig. 10-1. Road System 142 Antebellum Jefferson, Texas 3. The road southwest out of Jefferson branching immediately off the Marshall road and running between Big Cypress Bayou and Little Cypress Bayou to Gilmer, thence west. 4. The road east out of Jefferson to Smithland on Cypress Bayou and continuing on to Clinton and Monterey. There was also a lowwater road between Jefferson and Smithland along the bayou that enabled overland transport when steamboats could not reach Jefferson; however, it is unknown when this road came into existence and only begins to be mentioned after the Civil War. 5. The road north out of Jefferson to Boston, which was later complemented by the road to Linden. 6. The road northwest out of Jefferson to Daingerfield and on to Mt. Pleasant and thence north to Clarksville and northwest and west to various points. This road branched off to Alley’s Mills and Coffeeville in the vicinity of Hickory Hill (Avinger). In its earliest configuration, it left Jefferson to the north of the present-day road to Daingerfield. A January 1, 1849, bond for title from Martin Rogers to Amos Ury mentions “the new road going west out of Jefferson.” This refers to a realignment of the old road to Daingerfield, which was brought closer to the present road to Daingerfield, entered the town at Broadway Street, and can be seen fronting the Freeman Plantation. It is probable that Freeman, who was an important figure in Jefferson and Cass County, played a role in this realignment . After the realignment, the old road to Daingerfield came to be called the Spring Branch and Daingerfield Road and later the Black Cypress Road. 7. The road west out of Jefferson to Alley’s Mills and Coffeeville, thence to Gilmer. This road was independent of the earliest alignment of the Daingerfield Road, leaving Jefferson to the south. After the Daingerfield Road was realigned, this road branched off of the Daingerfield Road at the Freeman Plantation and ran south of that road along Cypress Bayou. A part of this road, which was called the Big Cypress Road or the Big Cypress Valley Road, can be seen running towards the bayou at the Freeman Plantation. A much larger portion farther to the west is known locally as the Old Coffeeville Road, which now terminates at Lake O’ the Pines. 143 Roads and Bridges...