Bevilport
Jasper, Jasper County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Important river shipping and trading point; was made seat of Bevil municipality, 1834. Named for John Bevil, Texas Ranger, a delegate (1835) to Consultation on Texas Independence, Chief Justice of Jasper County (1839), farmer. On Angelina River, Bevilport shipped cotton, hides and other East Texas products to markets in New Orleans. Its docks were busy with flatboats, keelboats-- its stores packed with travelers. Texas rivers flowing to Gulf of Mexico were favorite areas for settlement; Bevil and others prospered on rich "bottom" lands, using river as road to market. (1967)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On the Angelina River, Bevilport became the seat of the Bevil municipality in 1834 and a busy inland shipping point, its docks crowded with flatboats and keelboats carrying cotton, hides, and other East Texas goods downriver to New Orleans. It took its name from John Bevil, a Texas Ranger, delegate to the 1835 Consultation on Texas independence, and later chief justice of Jasper County. Like many river towns, it thrived on the rich bottomlands and the water route to market.
Why it matters
Bevilport recalls the era when Texas rivers, not roads or rails, were the highways that carried the frontier economy to market.
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Related people
- · John Bevil
Related events
- · Consultation of 1835
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Site of the Town of Bevilport
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Established by John Bevil, Bevilport was an important river navigation point from 1830 to 1860 and gave its name to the municipality first organized in 1834. It served as a mail station in 1835, was county seat of Jasper County from 1836 to 1837, and was incorporated in 1837. A business and social center on the Angelina River trade, the town thrived until the Civil War.
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The Old Beef Road
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