Site of Early Belton House
Belton, Bell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A large building erected here 1850, by Mrs. Sarah Lawler (1807-1890). In this structure, little more than a shed, Mrs. Lawler boarded workmen who were surveying and building Nolanville (later renamed Belton), county seat of newly-created Bell County. Tents, brush arbors, log cabins, and clapboard shanties dotted the landscape; and people moved in before the town was entirely laid out. Mrs. Lawler, born in Tennessee, came to Texas 1837 with husband Eli and their four children. After his death, 1838, she took in boarders, helping to pioneer county development. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1850 the widow Sarah Lawler, Tennessee-born and in Texas since 1837, put up a large shed-like building here to board the workmen surveying and building Nolanville—soon renamed Belton—as seat of the newly created Bell County. Amid tents, brush arbors, and log shanties, settlers moved in before the town was even fully laid out. After her husband Eli's death in 1838, Sarah had supported her family by taking in boarders, helping pioneer the county's growth.
Why it matters
Sarah Lawler's boardinghouse marks both the raw birth of a Texas county seat and the frequently overlooked economic role widowed women played in frontier settlement.
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Related people
- · Sarah Lawler
- · Eli Lawler
Related events
- · founding of Belton
Themes & tags
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