Site of the Alma Male and Female Institute

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this place, and it's got more layers than you might expect from a quiet corner of Hallettsville. Now, before there were public schools, before there were school buses, before there was any of that, the families of Lavaca County were doing what Texas families do. They were figuring it out themselves.

As early as the 1840s, if you wanted your children educated out here, you were hunting down one of the few small private schools available and hoping for the best. Then came 1852. Hallettsville got chosen as the Lavaca County seat, and the town's founder, a woman named Margaret Hallett, donated land.

Not just for the courthouse. Not just for a church. She donated land for a school.

That's the kind of woman Margaret Hallett was. A joint stock company stepped up and established the Alma Female Institute right there on that school property, on this very site. They put up a two-story wooden building, constructed by a man named J.W.

Layton, and inside it they fitted out classrooms, a dormitory, and, notably, a music room. They weren't just teaching the basics. They were reaching for something.

The man they chose to run it was C.L. Spencer. A Mason and a Methodist minister, Spencer served as the institute's first principal.

The first session ran from May through October of 1853. The very next year, the state legislature granted the school its charter. Official.

Legitimate. The real thing. Over the years, the curriculum leaned into classical liberal arts.

Ancient languages. Literature. Mathematics.

Natural science. Music. They extended classes to male students, and the school took on the name it would carry forward: the Alma Male and Female Institute.

There's something almost grand about saying it out loud. But here's where the story takes a turn. Sometime during the Civil War, between 1861 and 1865, the institute closed.

Funding problems. Mismanagement. The war had a way of pulling everything apart, and this school was not spared.

In 1865, a woman named Mary Jane Ballard, who happened to be Margaret Hallett's own daughter, bought the property and lived there for several years. Then she sold it to William Appelt. Appelt, being a practical man, leased the old school building out as a hotel for a while.

Then, in 1888, he tore it down and built a family home on the site. That house changed hands again. A Dr.

C.T. Dufner bought what was known as the Appelt House and used it as a hospital. And then, in 1961, it was razed.

So what you're standing near today is a site that has been, at various points in its life, a school, a dormitory, a hotel, a family home, and a hospital. Every era left something behind, and every era cleared it away. What remains is the reminder.

A reminder that long before Texas had a public education system, the people of Hallettsville were already trying to build one, one donated lot, one two-story wooden building, one session of school at a time.

What the marker says

As early as the 1840s, area residents could send their children to the few small private schools available. In 1852, when Hallettsville was chosen as Lavaca County seat, the town founder, Margaret Hallett, donated land for the town site, county courthouse, a church and a school. A joint stock company established the Alma Female Institute on the school property, located on this site. The private school included classrooms, a dormitory and a music room, contained in a two-story wooden building constructed by J.W. Layton. Mason and Methodist minister C.L. Spencer served as the institutes first principal, and the first session ran from May through October 1853. The state legislature granted the schools charter the following year. With a curriculum based on classical liberal arts education, the institute over the years offered instruction in ancient languages, literature and mathematics, natural science and music. The classes were extended to male students, and the school was known as the Alma Male and Female Institute. Sometime during the Civil War, 1861-1865, the school closed due to funding and mismanagement problems. In 1865, Mary Jane Ballard, daughter of Margaret Hallett, bought the property and lived here for several years before selling it to William Appelt. He leased the old school building for use as a hotel before tearing it down in 1888 and constructing a family home. Dr. C.T. Dufner later bought the Appelt House and used it as a hospital; it was razed in 1961. Today the site is a reminder of early efforts to educate the children of Hallettsville in the years before Texas' public education system. (2003)