Neon Cafe Sign In The General Store

Title

Neon Cafe Sign In The General Store

Artist

Catherine Sherman

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

"Cafe Sign in the General Store, Jefferson, Texas" by Catherine Sherman.

A vintage neon cafe sign hangs in Jefferson General Store, which has served East Texas as a hardware Store and a General Store since the 1860s.

The building was conveniently near a turning basin for the riverboats, when Jefferson was a river town on Big Cypress Bayou.

The city is a tourism destination, with popular attractions including: Jay Gould's Railroad car, the Sterne Fountain, Jefferson Carnegie Library, Excelsior House, the House of the Four Seasons, and the bayous formed by Big Cypress Bayou located in and around the city. In 1867 Jefferson became the first town in Texas to use natural gas for artificial lighting purposes, and ice was first manufactured on a commercial scale there in 1868.

The town was named for Thomas Jefferson when it was founded in the early 1840s. Historical markers abound throughout the town.

According to the Marion County, Texas, Chamber of Commerce website: In 1845, when obstructions were removed from Big Cypress Bayou, steamboats could reach Jefferson from New Orleans. After the arrival of the first steamboat, Jefferson became a boom town where many pioneers to Texas first set foot on Texas soil when they disembarked from the steamboats.
During Jefferson’s Golden Era as a steamboat port from 1845 until 1875, it became a cosmopolitan town like most port cities with a confluence of cultures and businesses. The architectural styles, which developed in Jefferson during this period of prosperity, resembled those of New Orleans. The homes were primarily of Greek revival design.

When the log raft was removed by the Army Corps of Engineers in the year 1873, the water level in Big Cypress Bayou was reduced and navigation to Jefferson was threatened. Railroads were also extended during this period of time across Texas, which reduced Jefferson’s commercial market area. The town ceased to be a prominent port city and commercial center. However, many of the mid-nineteenth century homes and buildings on the Historical Registry remain.

Featured in "Signs" group (10/30/2019); "Images That Excite You" group (10/30/2019)

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October 22nd, 2019

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