Hardin County

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Hardin County. Out here in the deep Piney Woods of East Texas, you've got a place with a name that traces straight back to a family.

Five brothers, to be exact. Benjamin Watson, Augustine Blackburn, William, Frank, and Milton A. Hardin.

They came to Texas in 1825, the whole lot of them, out of Liberty County. Now, the county didn't come along right away. It took a while for the map to catch up to the family.

But on January 22, 1858, Hardin County was created, named in honor of those Hardin brothers, all five of them. Then on August 9 of that same year, 1858, the county got itself organized. And when a county organizes, first order of business is picking a seat.

They went with Hardin for the county seat. That held from 1858 all the way to 1887. Then things shifted, as they tend to do in Texas, and Kountze took over.

Kountze has been the county seat ever since. So that's the shape of it. Five brothers who made the trip to Texas in 1825, a county created and organized inside a single calendar year, and a seat of government that moved once and then settled in for good.

The Hardins put their name on this land, and the land kept it.

What the marker says

Created January 22, 1858. Organized August 9, 1858. Named in honor of the Hardins of Liberty County. Five brothers-- Benjamin Watson, Augustine Blackburn, William, Frank and Milton A. who came to Texas in 1825. County seat, Hardin, 1858-1887. Kountze, since.