Jourdanton, founded in September 1909 by Jourdan Campbell and his partner, Colonel T.H. Zanderson, sprang up overnight.  The town originated to attract the Artesian Belt Railroad to this section of the county.  A $50,000 bonus was paid to the railroad company for this privilege.

     Campbell and Zanderson owned the Tobey Ranch, about 40,000 acres adjoining the town site.  Promoting the area for irrigated farms, a three-day auction sale of town lots was held amidst great fanfare and celebration.

     Captain C.S. Young is generally credited with laying out th town, Peter F. Watson of the Jourdanton Land Company was then selling land for $15 pan acre, but by the following year the price had gone up to $20 an acre.

     Livestock and cotton, shipped by rail to San Antonio and other markets, caused the town to prosper.  The Steinle Gin operated with a daily capacity of fifty bales.  Other early businesses included the Texas-Mexican Lumber Company, the Central Hotel, the Kempf Tailor Shop, the Jourdanton Bakery, Blunt's Tin Shop, LeGrand's and J.H. Null's restaurants, the Jourdanton Meat Market, the Jourdanton Telephone Compnay, the Cryer Barber Shop, Dossey's cleaning establishment, W.A. Purgason's general store, and R.E. Wallhoefer's New York Racket Store. 

     By 1910, the Atascosa County State Bank was housed in a new brick building, the office of The Monitor was moved from Pleasanton to Jourdanton, a post office was established, over a hundred students were enrolled in school, and the Methodist and Baptist Churches had been holding services for almost a year.