Preface

The Vanishing Texana Museum commemorates the 150th anniversary of the founding of Jacksonville, Texas by producing this book of articles, artifacts, and photographs reflective of our city’s history and culture. This document serves as a companion piece to the iconic book published by the Jacksonville Centennial Corporation in 1972. This is not an attempt to duplicate historic and family information from the 1972 edition, but rather to supplement with both recent research and fifty years of hindsight and perspective. Hopefully, then, the reader will value this volume as an important resource in better understanding and appreciating our town’s story. It is our position that a museum should be more than a static storehouse of items, but rather ought to combine research with writing. This book attempts to illustrate that aspect of the Vanishing Texana Museum. A patron once commented that

our museum was a depository of precious memories. Our wish is that this publication reflects that spirit and meets those criteria.

We, the curator and VTM Board of Directors, are proud of this East Texas piney wood town and are equally thankful that we had the opportunity to participate in Jacksonville’ s 2022 celebration.

Larry LydickJohn Taylor