Jones County, Texas
Where The Frontier Began



1910 Jones County Courthouse

Jones County was named for Anson Jones, a statesman for the Republic of Texas. Nomadic Indians inhabited the area in the 1850s including Kiowa, and Comanche. By 1851, the second line of frontier forts produced Fort Phantom Hill. Randolph Marcy detailed his visit to Jones county while surveying for a short cut to the gold fields of California. Fort Phantom Hill enjoyed a short time in defense of the area and was abandoned in 1854. The Butterfield Overland Stage and Mail coach used one of the buildings until the 1861 when transportation was disrupted.

Jones County was organized on February 1, 1858, from land in Bexar and Bosque counties. During the Civil War, Indian depredations and the War kept the county from being settled.  By 1872, settlers came to thE area with hopes of the wide open spaces and a better way of life.  With the Indian threat removed by 1875, the buffalo hunters came to the area followed by the stock farmers who brought cattle to take advantage of  the grass covered range with absence of the buffalo. Ranches were established including the Swenson Land and Cattle Company in 1882. By this time, the population of Jones county was 546 and the county was officially organized in 1881 with Jones City as the county seat.

BIOGRAPHIES
The Hall Family
of Jones County		 James Maxey family Robert Lee Penick

Why not add your family's biography?  Email me!


CEMETERIES

 Find-a-Grave Cemeteries
Jones County

 Find-a-Grave Cemeteries
Jones County



CENSUS LINKS

1840 Census of
Pensioners - Military


COMMUNITIES

11 Mile Lane Store
 11 miles east of Anson on Hwy 180

Anson

Avoca

Lueders Stamford Tuxedo

HISTORY LINKS
Jones County Buildings on
the Natioanal Registry		 The McArdle Notebooks
Henry McArdle's battle paintings, Dawn at the Alamo and The Battle of San Jacinto, have become Texas icons. The painstaking detail of the paintings was reflected in exhaustive research. McArdle's notebooks are packed with letters, notes, and photographs documenting the paintings and the events they depict.		 Texas State Library
and Archives


JONES COUNTY LINKS

Points of Contact Queries

MAP LINKS

Texas General Land
Office Map Collection

 Texas Land Grant Database


MILITARY


NATIVE AMERICANS LINKS

The Indians of Texas

 Battlesites and Massacres
in Texas



NEWSPAPERS

Jones County Observer
Sept 1939 to May 1940

Stamford News
August 11, 1904

The Stamford News 
January 6, 1905

The Stamford News 
January 6, 1906		 The Stamford News 
January 4, 1907		 The Stamford American 
1930
The Texas Western
June 10, 1925 		   

PHOTOGRAPHS

Anson, Texas in 1905

Jones County Businesses

Unknown Photos


RECOLLECTIONS

A Short History of
Jones County

Recollections



SANBORN FIRE MAPS

Anson

Hamlin

Stamford


SCHOOLS

1952 Anson High School Annual
"The Tiger"

History of Jones County Schools
1881-1933

New Hope School District
1927


Swan Chapel School District
1887 		   

OUR NEIGHBORS
Stonewall
Aspermont
Haskell
Haskell
Throckmorton
Throckmorton
Nolan
Sweetwater
JONES
Anson
Shackelford
Albany
Fisher
Rotan
Taylor
Abilene
Callahan
Baird

RECOMMENDED RESEARCH LINKS
Civil War Veterans Cyndi's List of
Genealogical Sites		 Family Search
   


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Please contact the Jones County TXGenWeb Site Coordinator
Dorman Holub

Please consider nomimating Jones County
for County of the Month Award

Contact Us:
Jones County Coordinator - Dorman Holub
 
State Coordinator - Gina Heffernan
 
Assistant TXGenWeb State Coordinators - Carla Clifton, Jane Keppler, and Laura Gregory Roberts


Thanks to the past county coordinators Faye Elder and Hugh Swift for helping those interested in history and family research.


Thanks for taking the time to visit.
last updated: March 28, 2024 

© May 2006-2024 by Dorman Holub,
and the TXGenWeb Project.