Gibtown, Texas, Jack County ghost town. (original) (raw)

"My G-G-G-Aunt Martha Autney Beard and her husband Russell Lewis Sartain at their house in Gibtown" - Charles E. Seay

History in a Pecan Shell

Original settlement in the region was loose and went by the name New Hope City until the 1870s. A townsite was platted in the early 1889s and its location in the corner of the county made it a commercial center for Jack, Wise and Parker Counties. Gibsons success reached the point where it rivaled the county seat - or at least some people thought so.

Gibtown had a population of 400 in 1896, but when it was bypassed by the railroad in 1898 - hopes were dashed. Businesses and citizens were drawn to Jacksboro and the town went into a decline. The post office closed in the 1920s and the population figure was listed as 25 from the early 50s through the 60s - thereafter no one bothered to take the census. Gibtown remains on the TxDoT county map for Jack County.

Ebenezer Cemetery is 2.5 miles west.

Gibtown Baptist Church & Cemetery
Photo courtesy Elwin Jensen, March 2007

A former store?
Photo courtesy Elwin Jensen, March 2007

The building 11 years later
Photo Courtesy Dustin Martin, March 2018

Gibtown Cemetery
Photo courtesy Elwin Jensen, March 2007

"My G-G-G-Aunt Martha Autney Beard was born 23 OCT 1833 in Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia. Her husband Russell Lewis Sartain was born 24 AUG 1828 in Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia. She died 23 MAR 1913 in Gibtown and he died 24 APR 1909 in Gibtown. They are both buried in the Gibtown Cemetery." - Charles E. Seay

A.B. Kerr and Son Token (front and back) from Muldoon
Photos courtesy Joe Meyers

Gibtown's inclusion was suggested by Joe Meyers who sent in a photo of a trade token that he had discovered at the old site of Gibson.

His letter: "A few years ago I was metal detecting at Gibtown, Texas in Jack County [and] found a token from the A.B. Kerr and Sons store in Muldoon, Texas. It sure would be a great story on how the token made the 300 mile trip from Muldoon to Gibtown. Probably by horse and wagon. - Joe Meyers, July 2006

Jack County 1907 Postal Map showing Gibtown
(SE corner of Jack County)
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

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