Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 3, Number 2, May 1993 Page: 80
[52] p. : ill., ports. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal
Jones and Smith Addition
The Jones and Smith Addition was the most ambitious in the town's history.
Like the Hancock and Henderson Addition, it was no doubt laid out to take advantage
of the boom that the arrival of the railroad was expected to bring. The plat was recorded
by William Jefferson Jones and George Washington Smith on November 30, 1867.
Jones had purchased the land, 400 acres on the northeast side of the existing town, from
Daniel T. Fitchett for $1600 on September 23, 1841."17 Smith apparently became Jones'
partner on November 13, 1867, when he bought an unspecified amount of the land from
Jones for $300.
The Jones and Smith Addition contained 22 blocks, which were assigned the
letters A to H and J to W, and ten ranges of lots set along five avenues at an oblique
angle to the rest of the city blocks and designated Range 1 to Range 10. All of original
Block 40 and much of Block 39 were obliterated by the new ranges of lots in the angled
area.
The angle at which the ranges were laid out matched that of the planned line
of the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railroad track through the city. The
southernmost range contained 30 lots, each 10 by 38 varas. The other ranges contained
a variable number of lots, depending on their length, each 20 by 40 varas. Five avenues
and five alleys were laid out between the ranges. The avenues were named First,
Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Avenue. The unnamed alleys ran between and parallel
to the avenues. A sixth avenue, called Center Avenue, ran at a right angle to the avenues
and alleys.
Center Avenue (now known as Center Street), instead of ending at Fourth
Avenue, now runs all the way through to Milam. Fourth and Fifth Avenues do not cross
Center. The alleys gradually disappeared. The last of them to survive as a public road,
a section to the north of Third Avenue and to the east of Center, finally was closed in
the 1970s. The remnant of that alley, and of the one between Second and Third
Avenues, is still clearly visible.
Of the four other new streets in the addition, one was called Smith and
another Jones. North Street ran along the original division line of the Tumlinson League.
The origin of the name of the fourth new street, Banks Street, is a mystery. The part of
Banks Street west of Front Street was never opened, and was formally closed by virtue
of a 172 to 81 vote of the citizenry to do so on April 7, 1964.18
The railroad track shown on the map had, as stated in a clause in the deed
for the sale of land by Jones to Smith, been surveyed but not yet built. Interestingly,
the planned track shows bridges on both the east and north sides of Columbus, as though
the line were to extend to Austin. In fact, the B B B & C built only a portion of the track
shown. Choosing instead to go to San Antonio, the railroad extended its track along
Crockett Street. In later years, the part of the track that went north from Crockett Street
served a kind of industrial district in the north part of Columbus, including the Columbus
Texas Meat & Ice Company.
17 John J. Tumlinson, who had inherited the land in 1833, shortly afterward sold it to James Wright.
Wright, in turn, sold it to Fitchett. See Deed Book D, p. 270, and Deed Book I, p. 459, Office of the County
Clerk, Colorado County, Texas.
18 See Bond & Mortgage Book F, page 196, Office of the County Clerk, Colorado County, Texas,
and Minutes of the City Council of Columbus Book 10, p. 2246, 2248-2250, 2260-2262, Archives of the
Nesbitt Memorial Library, Columbus.80
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View 11 pages within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Nesbitt Memorial Library. Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 3, Number 2, May 1993, periodical, May 1993; Columbus, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151388/m1/28/?q=nesbitt%2520memorial%2520library%2520journal: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nesbitt Memorial Library.