Editing Jasper, Texas (section)

===20th century===
In 1901, the town of Jasper was robbed. The post office safe and the county treasurer's safe were blown open and robbed. The thieves set a fire, and as the town had no fire department, the entire town was completely destroyed. Damages were estimated at $100,000. What was stolen from the safes was unknown. The thieves escaped.<ref name="Hocking">{{cite news|last1=Green|first1=Lewis|title=Texas Town Burned by Robbers|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038119/1901-06-06/ed-1/seq-2/|access-date=16 December 2017|agency=The Hocking Sentinel|date=June 1901}}</ref>

Jasper served as headquarters for the [[Lower Neches Valley Authority]]'s construction program, including Dam "B" at Town Bluff and engineering and surveying for a dam at Magee Bend on the [[Angelina River]]. Local farmers raised broiler chickens and beef, and in the 1950s turned to dairying. Jasper also became the headquarters of the [[Morgan and Lindsey]] chain of [[variety store]]s (otherwise known as dime-stores), which at one time operated 85 outlets in Texas, [[Arkansas]], [[Louisiana]], [[Mississippi]], and [[Alabama]].

In June 1998, the [[murder of James Byrd Jr.]] catapulted Jasper into national news and led to the creation of the [[Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act]]. Three men—John William King, Lawrence Russell Brewer, and Shawn Berry—were tried and convicted of capital murder. King and Brewer received the [[death penalty]], while Berry, who was the only suspect who cooperated during the investigation and implicated King and Brewer, was sentenced to life in prison. Brewer was executed on September 21, 2011. King was executed on April 24, 2019.