Confederate Civil War Meat Packing Plant

About 2 miles to the southwest, the meat plant of J. B. Dunn dressed,packed and shipped beef, pork and mutton to the Confederate army. In 1861 began by packing 150 beeves a day. Well located, on the Cypress Bayou shipping route, with cattle in trailing distance, in east and north Texas. Herds were bought at $20 to $40 a head. Used 42-gallon wooden barrels. Filled these with meat and brine. Obtained salt from New Iberia, La., and elsewhere through the Confederate government. Yet even with use of preservative salt, bloody water was sometimes found in the packed meat. The army complained it was made to accept this, though regular customers would have rejected it. The greater portion of cattle went out of Texas on the hoof, to be served as fresh meat after being slaughtered in the army camp. So much beef, pork, mutton, grain, sugar, salt, peas, beans, flour and corn meal was shipped away that Texas became known as the breadbasket of the Confederacy. Supplying of food was only one part of the Texas war effort, which included yielding her cotton crops as currency to buy guns and ammunition and other goods, and sending her mean and horses into the fight.

Confederate Civil War Meat Packing Plant is a historical marker in Jefferson, Marion County, dedicated in 1964. It is one of 94 historical markers documented in Marion County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 112 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.7619, -94.3484 near Jefferson. The nearest cataloged historic site is Walker, R.B. (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include First Baptist Church of Jefferson, Perry, William, and Perry, Captain William.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5315008024. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.