Black Jack

Black Jack Springs was near Farm Road 609 twelve miles southwest of La Grange in southwestern Fayette County. The community, named for the nearby clear springs and blackjack oak trees, was settled in the mid-1830s by Anglo pioneers. During the early 1850s they were joined by German immigrants, including Johannes Christlieb Nathanael Romberg. A post office was opened there in 1868, and in 1871 land was donated for separate White and Black cemeteries. By 1884 Black Jack Springs reported a population of 400, three general stores, two steam gristmill-cotton gins, a broom factory, a Lutheran church, and a school. In 1896 the community claimed 100 inhabitants and had a Baptist church, a saloon, and a cotton gin. During the early 1900s the town had a dance hall, a church, and a school. Its post office closed in 1910, and by the late 1930s its church had moved to Swiss Alp and its school had been closed. By the 1940s only the cemetery remained to mark the site of the community.