Hallettsville
Hallettsville, Lavaca County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Named for Mrs. Margaret Hallett, widow of John Hallett, a member of Austin's colony and a veteran of San Jacinto, who donated the town site. 1936
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Hallettsville takes its name from Margaret Hallett, who donated the town site after the death of her husband John, a member of Stephen F. Austin's colony and a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto. Her gift established the community during the early years of the Republic and state of Texas. The marker was placed in 1936, the Texas Centennial year.
Why it matters
The town's origin honors both an Austin colonist's role in winning Texas independence and the frontier widow whose land grant seeded a lasting community—a reminder of the women who anchored early Texas settlement.
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Related people
- · Margaret Hallett
- · John Hallett
- · Stephen F. Austin
Related events
- · Battle of San Jacinto
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Hallettsville
Hallettsville, TX
Hallettsville traces its founding to 1833, when John Hallett built a log cabin near the Lavaca River in what was then Mexican Texas. After his death the town took the name of his widow, Margaret Hallett, who donated the land when it became the county seat in 1852. It grew into a center of farming, livestock, and cotton marketing that still hosts a state high-school rodeo championship each June.
Estate of John Hallett
Hallettsville, TX
John Hallett, a member of Stephen F. Austin's colony and a former sea captain, built the area's first home — a log cabin — in 1833. After his death, his widow Margaret gave land for the town in 1852, when it became the county seat and took her family's name. The state recognized the site as a Historic Landmark in 1967.
Sarah Creath McSherry Hibbens Stinnett Howard
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This marker remembers Sarah Howard, who came to Texas from Illinois with her first husband in 1828 and endured extraordinary hardship on the frontier. Over the following decade she lost husbands and family to frontier violence, survived captivity, and escaped to raise her surviving son, marrying four times before settling with Col. Phillip Howard in Gonzales in 1839. Her repeated survival became emblematic of the endurance demanded of pioneer women on the early Texas frontier.
Nancy Shows
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