19th century The area, which was then part of
Mexican Texas, was settled around 1824 by John Bevil. Thirty families occupied the settlement as early as 1830, when it was known as "Snow River", after John R. Bevil, a hero of the
American Revolution. In 1835, the town was renamed after
William Jasper, a soldier from the American Revolution, who was killed attempting to plant the American flag at the storming of
Savannah in 1779. Jasper was one of the 23 original counties when the
Republic of Texas was created in 1836. Jasper became the county seat in 1844 and became part of the United States with the
annexation of Texas in 1845. , January 2011 During the
Civil War, the town housed a
Confederate quartermaster depot and served as a major center for Confederate communication, transportation, and supply. Jasper was a Confederate Army headquarters for a nine-county area. Following the war, Union troops led by
General George Custer occupied Jasper, camping in the town square. Educational institutions included the Jasper Male and Female High School, which operated until 1878, when it became the Southeast Texas Male and Female College, and Jasper Collegiate Institute, which operated from 1851 until 1874. The population declined to 360 in 1870, reflecting the hardships of the Civil War, but by 1885 had risen to 1,000. In 1896, Jasper had a population of 1,200. With the arrival of the
Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway early in the 20th century, Jasper grew into a center for the manufacture of timber products. Lumber from two sawmills, with a daily capacity of , goods from basket and stave factories, logs, ties, poles, and pulpwood were shipped in 200 cars per month.
20th century In 1901, the town of Jasper was robbed. The post office safe and the county treasurer's safe were blown open and robbed. The thieves set a fire, and as the town had no fire department, the entire town was completely destroyed. Damages were estimated at $100,000. What was stolen from the safes was unknown. The thieves escaped. Jasper served as headquarters for the
Lower Neches Valley Authority's construction program, including Dam "B" at Town Bluff and engineering and surveying for a dam at Magee Bend on the
Angelina River. Local farmers raised broiler chickens and beef, and in the 1950s turned to dairying. Jasper also became the headquarters of the
Morgan and Lindsey chain of
variety stores (otherwise known as dime-stores), which at one time operated 85 outlets in Texas,
Arkansas,
Louisiana,
Mississippi, and
Alabama. In June 1998, the
murder of James Byrd Jr. catapulted Jasper into national news and led to the creation of the
Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Three men—John William King, Lawrence Russell Brewer, and Shawn Berry—were tried and convicted of capital murder. King and Brewer received the
death penalty, while Berry, who was the only suspect who cooperated during the investigation and implicated King and Brewer, was sentenced to life in prison. Brewer was executed on September 21, 2011. King was executed on April 24, 2019.
21st century In 2000, Jasper had 8,247 residents and around 250 businesses. Jasper was one of the primary locations for the recovery of the
Space Shuttle Columbia wreckage in February 2003. Jasper was greatly affected by
Hurricane Rita on September 25, 2005, as it moved inland. The city suffered considerable damage and was left without power or potable water for about three and a half weeks. The Jasper Arboretum Project began in 2000, and the Outdoor Learning Center was added in 2012 to create of public gardens, walking trails, a master gardener greenhouse, and a nature classroom. To fire Pearson, two black city council members were recalled in the narrowly divided city. Free of
Voting Rights Act preclearance requirements, Jasper is moving to annex largely white suburbs. The feud highlighted Jasper's persistent struggle with
racism throughout its history. On
July 8, 2024, the western part of Jasper was struck by a low-end EF2 tornado that was spawned by the outer bands of
Hurricane Beryl. Many trees, power poles, and structures were damaged, and one person was injured. ==Geography==