Jefferson’s prosperity didn’t last, though. Steamboating nationwide eventually began to give way to the rise of railroads, and in 1873, the government blasted holes in the Great Raft. Upstream, water levels on the Big Cypress dropped, making navigation to Jefferson difficult. That same year, another blow came when the Texas and Pacific Railway, which went from Texarkana to Marshall, bypassed Jefferson. By 1885, more than half of the town’s population had moved away.