Jackson Ranch Chapel

More information below the photo

photo: Mike Gross October 2020

Jackson Ranch Chapel
Pharr, Texas

The Jackson Ranch chapel as founded in 1874 on land donated by Martin Jackson, owner of the Jackson Ranch. The ranch was established in 1857 by Nathaniel Jackson, a white former slave owner from Alabama, his Black wife, Matilda Hicks, and several freedmen. They moved to the borderland to escape the intolerant society of Alabama. The ranch became a haven for fleeing enslaved people, and was an important stop on the underground railroad. The underground railroad route to Canada is well-known, but southern route to freedom in Mexico is less well-known. The Jackson Chapel is an active United Methodist church today.

Access to the chapel has been threatened by Trump border wall construction, which came to within a quarter mile of the chapel in August. While the chapel and two related cemeteries were specifically protected in a 2020 appropriations bill, the Trump administration has continued construction at the site.

location
Spur 29/Doffin Rd, off US 281 south of Pharr, TX..
coordinates: 26.085756100,-98.184646100

references
https://theintercept.com/2020/08/23/border-wall-construction-historic-cemeteries-texas/
http://www.stxmaps.com/go/texas-historical-marker-jackson-ranch-church.html

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