Hallettsville

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight off the plaque. Way back in 1833, a man named John Hallett picked himself a spot near the Lavaca River and put up a log cabin. That was the beginning of what would become Hallettsville.

Now, you might expect a town to carry the name of the man who founded it, the fellow who swung the first axe, the one who staked his claim along that river. But that's not how this story went. John Hallett's name didn't make it onto the map.

His widow Margaret's did. When the town became the county seat in 1852, it was Margaret Hallett who gave the land for it. And so the town that grew up on the banks of the Lavaca took her name, Hallettsville, a monument to a woman who stepped up when it mattered.

From those early days the town built itself into a real working center, farming, livestock, poultry processing, cotton marketing. Everything that keeps a Texas community honest and on its feet. And every June, Hallettsville hosts the State Championship High School Rodeo.

Young Texans coming from all over to prove what they're made of, right there in a town that started with a single log cabin and a widow's generous hand.

What the marker says

Founded 1833 when John Hallett erected a log cabin near Lavaca River. Town was named for his widow, Margaret, who gave the land when town became county seat in 1852. Farming, livestock, poultry processing, and cotton marketing center. State Championship High School Rodeo held annually in June. 1968