Jacksonville, Texas

Jacksonville is a city located in Cherokee County, Texas, United States. The population was 13,997 at the 2020 U.S. census.[4] It is the principal city of the Jacksonville micropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Cherokee County.

For cities with a similar name, see Jacksonville (disambiguation).

Jacksonville, Texas
City
Jacksonville's City Hall, located downtown on South Ragsdale Street, was completed in November 2016.
Nickname(s): 
The Biggest Small Town in Texas;
Tomato Capital of the World
Location of Jacksonville, Texas
Location of Jacksonville, Texas
Coordinates: 31°57′49″N 95°16′7″W
Country United States
State Texas
CountyCherokee
Government
 • TypeCouncil-Manager
 • City CouncilLawyer Dick Stone
Hubert Robinson
Jeff Smith
Randy Gorham
Rob Gowin
 • City ManagerGreg Smith
Area
[1]
 • Total14.20 sq mi (36.77 km2)
 • Land14.19 sq mi (36.75 km2)
 • Water0.01 sq mi (0.02 km2)
Elevation
522 ft (159 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total13,997
 • Density1,043.97/sq mi (403.09/km2)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
75766
Area code(s)430, 903
FIPS code48-37216[2]
GNIS feature ID1374262[3]

U.S. Highways
Major State Highways
Websitehttp://www.jacksonvilletx.org
Monument-style welcome sign at U.S. Highway 69's north approach to the city.

Jacksonville is located in East Texas, north of the county seat, Rusk, and south of Tyler, in Smith County.

Area production and shipping of tomatoes gained the town the title "Tomato Capital of the World". The impressive red iron ore rock Tomato Bowl, built by Works Progress Administration workers during the Great Depression, is home to the Jacksonville High School "Fightin' Indians" football and soccer teams. Annual events include the "Tops in Texas Rodeo" held in May and the "Tomato Fest" celebration in June.

History

Jacksonville began in 1847 as the town of Gum Creek. Jackson Smith built a home and blacksmith shop in the area, and became postmaster in 1848, when a post office was authorized. Shortly afterward, Dr. William Jackson established an office near Smith's shop. When the townsite was laid out in 1850, the name Jacksonville was chosen in honor of these two men. The name of the post office was changed from Gum Creek to Jacksonville in June 1850.

Despite never having organized unions in any Walmart stores before, meatcutters working at the Jacksonville Walmart voted in favor of organizing under the wing of the United Food and Commercial Workers union in February 2000. During a flurry of subsequent legal actions, Walmart discontinued store-level meatcutting and started shipping in pre-packaged/pre-frozen meat to their stores. When all the hearings and appeals were exhausted, it was decided that the local meatcutters didn't embody the characteristics of a group that could bargain since they weren't specialized. Even now, there is no one in the Jacksonville meat department to make special cuts of meat or any union presence there.[5][6]

Geography

Jacksonville is located at 31°57′49″N 95°16′07″W.[7]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.1 square miles (37 km2), of which 14.1 square miles (37 km2) is land and 0.07% is water.

Lake Jacksonville

Lake Jacksonville is three miles (5 km) southwest of Jacksonville. It is the city's primary water source. It is a popular location for recreation and residences. It was created in 1957 and the city expected it to take years to fill with water from the surrounding creeks. But, with an unusually rainy season, the lake reached full capacity in a year.

  • Lake characteristics
Location: 3 miles southwest of Jacksonville off US 79
Surface area: 1,320 acres
Maximum depth: 62 feet
Impounded: 1957

Climate

With records only dating to 1953, Jacksonville was one a few Texas locations to have its all time low occur during the 2021 Texas power crisis cold snap in February 2021.

Climate data for Jacksonville, Texas (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1953–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 85
(29)		 91
(33)		 90
(32)		 95
(35)		 99
(37)		 103
(39)		 110
(43)		 108
(42)		 109
(43)		 100
(38)		 89
(32)		 83
(28)		 109
(43)
Average high °F (°C) 58.2
(14.6)		 62.5
(16.9)		 70.1
(21.2)		 77.2
(25.1)		 83.2
(28.4)		 89.9
(32.2)		 93.9
(34.4)		 94.3
(34.6)		 88.9
(31.6)		 79.2
(26.2)		 68.3
(20.2)		 60.7
(15.9)		 77.2
(25.1)
Daily mean °F (°C) 46.0
(7.8)		 49.8
(9.9)		 56.7
(13.7)		 64.1
(17.8)		 72.2
(22.3)		 79.1
(26.2)		 82.8
(28.2)		 82.4
(28.0)		 76.6
(24.8)		 66.4
(19.1)		 55.8
(13.2)		 48.8
(9.3)		 65.1
(18.4)
Average low °F (°C) 33.8
(1.0)		 37.1
(2.8)		 43.3
(6.3)		 51.0
(10.6)		 61.2
(16.2)		 68.3
(20.2)		 71.6
(22.0)		 70.5
(21.4)		 64.2
(17.9)		 53.5
(11.9)		 43.2
(6.2)		 36.9
(2.7)		 52.9
(11.6)
Record low °F (°C) 5
(−15)		 −6
(−21)		 15
(−9)		 28
(−2)		 39
(4)		 50
(10)		 57
(14)		 54
(12)		 43
(6)		 29
(−2)		 14
(−10)		 5
(−15)		 −6
(−21)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 4.54
(115)		 4.24
(108)		 3.80
(97)		 3.38
(86)		 4.26
(108)		 4.04
(103)		 3.40
(86)		 3.07
(78)		 3.55
(90)		 4.75
(121)		 4.24
(108)		 4.23
(107)		 47.50
(1,207)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 0.2
(0.51)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.2
(0.51)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 7.8 8.2 7.8 6.1 6.5 6.5 5.5 4.9 5.3 6.0 6.8 8.6 80.0
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3
Source: NOAA[8][9]

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1880349—
1890970177.9%
19001,55860.6%
19102,87584.5%
19203,72329.5%
19306,74881.3%
19407,2136.9%
19508,60719.3%
19609,59011.4%
19709,7341.5%
198012,26426.0%
199012,7654.1%
200013,8688.6%
201014,5444.9%
202013,997−3.8%
U.S. Decennial Census[10]
Jacksonville racial composition as of 2020[11]
(NH = Non-Hispanic)[lower-alpha 1]
Race Number Percentage
White (NH) 4,915 35.11%
Black or African American (NH) 2,747 19.63%
Native American or Alaska Native (NH) 25 0.18%
Asian (NH) 105 0.75%
Pacific Islander (NH) 5 0.04%
Some Other Race (NH) 47 0.34%
Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH) 404 2.89%
Hispanic or Latino 5,749 41.07%
Total 13,997

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 13,997 people, 5,027 households, and 3,670 families residing in the city.

Government

Local government

According to the city's most recent Adopted Budget, the city's various funds had $14.9 million in Revenues, $15.7 million in expenditures, and $4.4 million fund balance.[14]

Management of the city and coordination of city services are provided by:[15]

Department Director
City Mayor Randy Gorham
City Manager James Hubbard
Director of Finance Roxanna Martin
Fire Chief Keith Fortner
Police Chief Joe Williams
Director of Public Works Randall Chandler
Director of Water and Sewer Randall Chandler
Director of Development Services Jody Watson
Director of Streets James Worley
Library Director Trina Stidham

State government

Jacksonville is represented in the Texas Senate by Republican Robert Nichols, District 3, and in the Texas House of Representatives by Republican Travis Clardy, District 11.

Federal government

At the Federal level, the two U.S. Senators from Texas are Republicans John Cornyn and Ted Cruz; Jacksonville is part of the Fifth Congressional District, represented by Republican Lance Gooden.

Recreation

The Jacksonville Public Library[16] served the City of Jacksonville and Cherokee County for over 70 years. The Library was a member of the Texas Library Association, the Northeast Texas Library System and the Forest Trails Library Consortium. In September 2020, the lot it sat on was sold to Chick-fil-A, where construction promptly began on a restaurant location. The new Jacksonville Public Library is planned to open in April 2021, in the Norman Activities Center.[17][18] Until the opening of the new location, Jacksonville residents have been allowed to visit the Rusk Public Library with library card fines waived.[19]

Education

The city of Jacksonville is served by the Jacksonville Independent School District. Jacksonville High School, the district's only high school, has "Fightin' Indians"/"Maidens" as mascots for its team sports.

Colleges, universities
Baptist Missionary Association Theological Seminary, an entity of the Baptist Missionary Association of America, is located off State Highway 135 on the northeast side of the city.

Jacksonville College and the Baptist Missionary Association Theological Seminary, both of which are owned by the Baptist Missionary Association of America, are located in Jacksonville.

Lon Morris College, a United Methodist Church operated private junior college, was located in Jacksonville until ceasing operations in 2012.

Transportation

Many highways pass through and intersect in Jacksonville: US 69, US 79, US 175, SH 135, SH 204, FM 347, FM 768, FM 2138, and Loop 456. However, no Interstate highways pass through the city limits

Where 3 railroads once served the Jacksonville area (Southern Pacific and Cotton Belt abandoned their tracks in the mid-1980s), only one, Union Pacific, remains.

Cherokee County Airport is the sole airport within Jacksonville, but solely serves general aviation. Commercial aviation can be accessed by traveling north to Tyler Pounds Regional Airport with an American Eagle flight to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), or simply driving 132 miles directly to either DFW or Dallas Love Field via U.S. Route 175.

Notable people

Notes
  1. Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.[12][13]

References
  1. "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  2. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  3. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  4. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  5. Wal-Mart's "Meat Wars" With Union Sizzles On, HuffingtonPost.com, Al Norman--writer, March 16, 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  6. UFCW Timeline Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  7. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  8. "NowData - NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  9. "Station: Jacksonville, TX". U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  10. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  11. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  12. https://www.census.gov/
  13. "About the Hispanic Population and its Origin". www.census.gov. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  14. 2008-09 Adopted Budget Archived 2009-05-28 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2009-06-10
  15. City of Jacksonville Archived 2009-05-16 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2009-06-03
  16. Website, Jacksonville Public Library. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
  17. "Jacksonville library to be sold; new location to open April '21".
  18. "Chick-Fil-A announces location coming to Jacksonville".
  19. "Jacksonville Public Library | Jacksonville, TX".
  20. Bruce Channel Biography, IMDb. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  21. "Tribpedia: Craig James | The Texas Tribune". March 3, 2016. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  22. "KENDRICK, John Benjamin, (1857 - 1933)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
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