DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Reverend Andrew Shannon Hayter — and it's quite a story. Now, most towns out here in North Texas got their names from somebody who wanted to be remembered. Andrew Hayter had the chance, and he turned it down flat.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Hayter was born in 1818, a Tennessee man by origin, and he carried that frontier Presbyterian spirit with him every step of his life. He left Alabama with his family in late 1850, pushed west into Texas, and settled first down in Nacogdoches.
Over the next forty-nine years — forty-nine — he would establish or serve sixteen Cumberland Presbyterian churches. Sixteen. That's not a man passin' through.
That's a man with a calling and a pair of boots that never wore out. But preaching alone doesn't always keep a family fed on the frontier, and Hayter knew it. So he worked another procession alongside the pulpit: surveying.
He knew the land — knew how it rose and fell, where the timber stood thick, where a road could run and where it couldn't. That combination of faith and practical knowledge would end up shaping this whole corner of Texas. The Hayters moved to Tarrant County in 1869, and Andrew made a name for himself quickly — as a preacher, a civic leader, and a surveyor.
By the early 1870s, a small settlement had developed right on the edge of his property. He petitioned for a post office in 1875, and that post office was called Haytersville. He'd already founded two churches, a school, and a Masonic Lodge in the area.
The man was buildin' something. Then came 1876, and with it, the railroad. The designers needed somebody who knew eastern Tarrant County cold — the terrain, the timber, all of it.
They needed to lay out a new settlement, a tiny half-mile-square town sitting between Dallas and Fort Worth. Andrew Hayter could supply the surveying knowledge they required, and on top of that, he owned property filled with large timbers that could be furnished to construct the road bed. He was, in a word, indispensable.
So when the work was done and the railroad offered to name their new town Hayter — a fitting honor, most men would say — the reverend declined. He turned it down, and he gave the town a different name altogether: Arlington. After Robert E.
Lee's Virginia estate. Now, you can sit with that choice a moment. A man who had already lent his name to a post office, who had built churches and a school and a lodge, who had surveyed half the county — that man chose to hand the glory of a town's name to somewhere else entirely.
And here's where the story gets a little bittersweet. The birth of Arlington meant the end of Haytersville. The post office was moved to the new town, and Haytersville was abandoned.
The place named for Andrew Hayter simply ceased to be — because Andrew Hayter himself chose something different. He lived until 1900, having arrived in Texas just after 1850 and watched a half-mile-square survey become a town that would one day anchor the middle of the Metroplex. Many consider him the Father of Arlington — a title the town carries on, even if his own name on the map didn't survive it.
That's the kind of legacy that outlasts a post office.
What the marker says
Reverend Andrew Shannon Hayter (1818-1900) was one of the earliest settlers in this area, and is considered by many to be the "Father of Arlington." A native of Tennessee, Hayter left Alabama with his family in late 1850 and arrived in Texas shortly after, settling first in Nacogdoches. Over the next forty-nine years Hayter would establish or serve sixteen Cumberland Presbyterian churches. As with many pioneer preachers, Hayter worked in another procession, as a surveyor, to augment his income. The Hayters moved to Tarrant County in 1869, where Andrew quickly made a name for himself as a preacher, civic leader and surveyor. During the early 1870s a tiny settlement developed on the edge of Hayter's property, and he petitioned for a post office in 1875. The post office was called Haytersville. Hayter had already founded two churches, a school, and a Masonic Lodge in the area when he was asked in 1876 to locate the railroad through eastern Tarrant County and lay out a tiny, half-mile-square settlement between Dallas and Fort Worth. The railroad designers needed in-depth knowledge of the area and its terrain, as well as a plentiful source of timber to construct the road bed. Andrew Hayter could supply the necessary surveying knowledge, and also owned property filled with large timbers that could be furnished to the railroad. When the railroad offered to name their new town Hayter, the reverend declined the offer and instead gave the town the name Arlington, after Robert E. Lee's Virginia estate. The birth of Arlington caused the demise of tiny Hayterville. The post office was soon moved to the new town and Hayterville was abandoned. (2009)