East Texas Quarterly Magazine Spring 2014 | Page 7

land on the south side of Jasper . The
depot was moved through town down
the highway and onto its present
location on Hwy. 96 S. The
property was named the Violett
Tonahill Center for the Performing
Arts and proudly hosts the Jasper
Community Theatre. Over the years
“The Depot” has been refurbished,
expanded, and a front deck and paved
parking lot have been added, but the
theatre complex still retains its
historic train depot character.

Above: From red, White and Tuna. Below: From the February
performance of Madcap & Music.
The Jasper Community Theatre is a
non-profit organization, which is dedicated
to providing the local community
with quality family entertainment and
opportunities
to
develop
talents
and perform on stage. JCT has been
providing
Southeast
Texas
with
quality live performanes for 30 years.
Their firstshow, “Arsenic and Old Lace” was
performed in 1984 and in the years since,
JCT has produced musicals, comedies,
dramas, mysteries , children’s plays, and
variety talent shows.

One of the strengths of JCT is the
community itself. JCT has no paid staff,
no professional actors, and is operated
solely by volunteers from the area.
Interested people donate their
time and energy doing everything
from mowing the lawn, cleaning
and maintaining the building,
to directing plays and sewing

For the first few years of JCT’s existence
they produced plays on the stage of
Jasper High School cafetorium . In 1987
the Board of Directors purchased the
abandoned Santa Fe railroad depot that
had served Jasper since the early 1900s, but
was no longer in use. They then received a
donation by Violett Tonahill of 3 acres of
Photo by Jason Dunn

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