Lake Jackson Texas. (original) (raw)

Buffalo Camp Bayou near Lake Jackson
Photo courtesy Ken Rudine, July 2008

History in a Pecan Shell

Lake Jackson is on the site of a former 3,000 acre cotton and sugar plantation. Prior to the Civil War (1843 to 1845) it belonged to Abner Jackson. After slavery was abolished, the plantation used convict labor to produce sugar. Freed slaves formed the nucleus of the town. The Dow Chemical Company bought the former plantation (which includes four separate lakes) in the early 1940s and designed it to provide housing for employees, including land to be left for private development. By 1950 the population was nearing 3,000 and eight years later it had reached over 11,000.

Being a new town with no existing business history, it wasn't until the late 60s and 70s that the town became self-sufficient from a business standpoint. A mall opened in 1976 and the completion of Highway 288 from Houston gave the town an extra boost. The population reached 22,776 by the 1990 census. The city has since built a replica of Jackson's plantation house and provides access to the banks of the Brazos through Wilderness Park, an undeveloped area.

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