There are two types of people in the world: those who love Jefferson and those who’ve never been. It’s nearly impossible to resist the charm of this small East Texas town, whose walkable streets are filled with antiques shops, restaurants serving up cornbread sandwiches and chicken-fried steak, and historic Greek Revival–style houses now operating as bed-and-breakfasts.
In its mid-nineteenth-century heyday, this inland riverport town on Big Cypress Bayou, in Marion County about a thirty-minute drive from the Louisiana border, was the commercial center of northeast Texas. Back then, the place bustled with horse-drawn carriages and New Orleans–bound steamboats loaded high with cotton. During the peak of the river trade, in 1872, Jefferson’s population was just shy of 7,300, while today it hovers at around 1,800.
The steamboat traffic was reduced to a trickle in 1873, after a logjam’s removal lowered water levels; it dwindled further as railroads replaced steamboats. The economy waned for decades, except for a brief and glorious oil boom in the 1930s. Now tourism is the main industry, and for good reason: the city is an irresistible slice of Americana.
“It’s a lot like Mayberry,” says B.W. Brooks, whose wife, Jessi, a thirty-year veteran of the food and beverage industry, owns the Carriage House, a full-service bed-and-breakfast. “Everybody’s still friendly. . . . The only thing you have to worry about is if you look someone in the eye, they might try and talk to you for twenty minutes.” The town’s charm is part of what lured the couple to move from Dallas a decade ago to start the business.
The Mayberry-like appeal of Jefferson is evident in the red brick streets and the historic homes, many of which have rocking chair–lined front porches and picket fences that look freshly whitened. (There was even a Sheriff Taylor—just as on The Andy Griffith Show—from 1923 to 1936.) The toot of a train whistle can still be heard as freighters pass through town. Golf carts sometimes outnumber cars, especially on weekends.
Jefferson’s sleepy appearance is a ruse—there’s always an event happening. The packed fall calendar includes an annual antique-tractor show and the East Texas Burn Run, a motorcycle rally that raises money for burn survivors. Sasquatch enthusiasts flock to the annual Bigfoot Conference in October. In 2018 the town proclaimed itself the Official Bigfoot Capital of Texas after numerous supposed sightings of the mythical cryptid. Walk across the street from the visitor’s center and you’ll be greeted by a five-foot statue of the guy. Oodles of Sasquatch souvenirs are also for sale around town, and even restaurant dishes (Bigfoot burgers) are named after the elusive creature.
The fall foliage makes November one of the best times to visit. Jefferson doubles as a comfortable base to explore nearby Caddo Lake State Park and Lake O’ the Pines for prime leaf-peeping. Before making the trek, call ahead to check hue conditions. Consider booking a Caddo Lake boat tour from Johnson’s Ranch Marina, the oldest inland marina in the Lone Star State, located in the nearby hamlet of Uncertain.
See + Do
Download a map of Jefferson’s two self-guided historic walks, whose paths also can be followed by car or rental golf cart, featuring 29 historic homes and more than twenty notable structures, parks, and monuments including the 1907 Carnegie Library (one of four in the state) and the early-1900s Sterne Fountain, with its elegant bronze statue of Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth. Several homes, including the House of the Seasons, Singleton’s Virginia Cross Home, and the Grove, offer weekend tours.
Historic Tours of Jefferson offers one-hour narrated tours of the downtown historic district and neighborhoods in an air-conditioned red trolley that will delight small children (or anyone who enjoys hearing historical trivia). For a dose of the paranormal, join the Jefferson Ghost Walk Tour on Friday and Saturday nights.
Spanning a wide swath of local history, the Jefferson Historical Museum, located in the former courthouse and post office dating from 1890, has four floors of exhibits, including prehistoric Caddo arrowheads and pottery, plus a small Texas flag that astronauts carried to the moon on Apollo 12.
Don’t miss the Museum of Measurement and Time, the private collection of former engineer Johnny Ingram and his wife, Edith, consisting of 550 clocks, 1,500 salt and pepper shakers, and a hodgepodge of antique surveying equipment and other tools. The Ingrams’ assemblage also includes five hundred records from Jefferson native Vernon Dalhart, the first country musician to sell more than one million records; you can have one played on request.
Eat + Drink
Arrive early and avoid the queue at Kitt’s Kornbread Sandwich and Pie Bar, where the cornbread sandwiches are the star. Choose between the classic club, piled high with turkey, ham and melted cheese on either jalapeño, broccoli, or original cornbread, or order from the secret menu an Ultimate Bigfoot Texan: two burger patties drizzled with chili and cheese. Housed in an old drugstore on the main drag, the lunch-only eatery was started by Kitt Williams and her mother, Sarah Rosetta Williams, in 2003 as Jefferson House of Pies before they branched into the cornbread sandwiches, inspired by Kitt’s childhood habit of making sandwiches with her mother’s leftover cornbread. It took two years of experimenting to perfect the cornbread’s consistency so that it was sturdy enough for sandwiches. Save room for pie—there are thirteen flavors. (Buttermilk is the most popular.)
Next door, Nutty’s Peanut Butter offers tastings of their twelve fresh-milled flavors, ranging from honey roasted to cinnamon raisin and the best-selling white chocolate chip. Owner Carrie Parsons started making her own peanut butter more than twenty years ago and opened a Jefferson storefront in 2019 with her husband, Keith. Batches are stirred up fresh daily and sell out quickly. Don’t worry—if they run out of your flavor of choice, they’ll make you a jar while you wait.
You can’t miss the red English double-decker bus, home to Red Bus Cupcakes, permanently parked on North Polk Street under a giant metal awning. Slip into a cozy booth on the air-conditioned second level for homemade cupcakes, ice cream, cobbler, and a delectable invention called a cupcake sundae (a combination of ice cream with the toppings mixed with a cupcake). The business was the brainchild of wedding cake baker Jennifer Phillips and her husband, Ray, who were considering a food truck when Jennifer saw the bus, a 1981 Bristola VR3, for sale online in Massachusetts. Ray flew out and drove it back at a maximum speed of 43 miles per hour in January 2020. During the pandemic, the pair transformed the bus, named Miss Kitty, into a dessert wonderland.
Ask a local where to grab supper and they’ll likely say the KnightLight Theater, a dinner-only spot serving up a Medieval-themed menu of Excali-burgers, King Arthur Supreme pizzas, and crawfish po’boys. Other notable culinary highlights include Austin Street Bistro’s homemade squaw bread and maple butter and 1852 on Austin’s brunch menu, with chicken-fried Brussels sprouts. For late-night weekend drinks, a game of pool, and people-watching, drop by Auntie Skinner’s Riverboat Club.
Shop
Amid Jefferson’s abundance of antiques stores are some unique finds, such as Caddo Mercantile Antiques, which doubles as a record shop selling vinyl albums along with T-shirts from musicians including Alice in Chains and Tom Petty.
A cardboard cutout of the Marvel villain Loki and a plastic statue of Slimer, the green ghoul from Ghostbusters peer out the front window of Treasure Trolls Lair, a retro gaming store in Jefferson’s Historic District. Roxanne and Steven Cowan opened the doors in November after two decades of working a side business on the doll and toy show scene. Gaming consoles (a $90 Super Nintendo), Star Wars action figures, and toys from the eighties cartoons Popples and Glo Friends are just a few of the items that will delight nostalgic millennials and, just maybe, their kids.
Since the 1870s, a tall brick building on East Austin Street has housed a general store. Decorated with vintage signs, mounted deer heads, and playing a constant country music soundtrack, the current Jefferson General Store is a nostalgia-themed souvenir and snack shop selling Texas and Jefferson-themed T-shirts and toys. (There’s also a Sasquatch section with bandages, stickers, and clothing.) Peach habanero jam and pumpkin butter are among the homemade treats on offer, each made on a nearby farm exclusively for the store. Order a soda, shake, float, or ice cream from the long wooden counter, and keep an eye out for Moonshine, the resident orange tabby, who likes to lounge on the giant checkerboard in the children’s section.
If you’re in the market for an eleven-foot-long metal armadillo painted like a Texas flag to mark your driveway entrance, stop by the Front Porch on Polk. While the armadillos are the biggest sellers at this gift shop, the smaller colorful chicken statues are a close second.
Stay
Jefferson has many claims to fame—it’s home to the oldest continually operating hotel in Texas (Excelsior House Hotel)—and holds the title of bed-and-breakfast capital of Texas, with thirteen listed on the tourism bureau’s website.
Located catty-corner to the Sterne Fountain, the 1860s Kennedy Manor is a spacious Greek Revival–style house tucked behind a white picket fence. The six guest rooms boast thirteen-foot ceilings and are decorated with antique chests and stacks of vintage suitcases that double as nightstands. Rocking chairs flank the blue-floored wrap-around porch with a matching garden gnome perched on the stairs. Play a few notes on the grand piano in the music parlor or relax in the backyard by the firepit and koi pond. The owners, Tommy and Tracey Engel, stayed at the home when it was a previous bed-and-breakfast and bought the property sixteen years later.
Just steps from downtown, the Carriage House Bed and Breakfast has fourteen rooms split across three properties, all with historically themed rooms, including two named after the city’s cofounders, Allen Urquhart and Daniel Alley. The two-course gourmet breakfast made by owner and chef Jessi Brooks rivals any in town—the homemade blueberry bread pudding muffins are outstanding—and comes with complimentary mimosas and Bloody Marys. Nightly, Jessi’s husband, B.W., can be found starting up the firepit to make s’mores. On weekends, book a spot for one of the candlelit four-course gourmet dinners.
