Discover Lavaca

DISCOVER LAVACA COUNTY

Old Kasper House Bed & Breakfast

THE PERFECT PLACE TO RELAX AND ESCAPE FROM THE BIG CITY AND TO TAKE A STEP BACK IN TIME.

The Old Kasper House Bed and Breakfast is proud to offer an affordable and luxurious lodging experience nestled in the heart of Shiner. We have 14 exquisitely decorated rooms and cottages with top of the line bedding in a comfortable atmosphere.

We are walking distance to the Spoetzl Brewery and Downtown Shiner. All rooms have private bathrooms, satellite television and wireless internet connection s.

CLWhether you’re here visiting family, down for one of our big events, simply passing through or looking for that ideal place to settle down, please allow us to be the first to extend a heartfelt Howdy ’all

Welcome to Lavaca County We think of it as our own little slice of heaven, and it’s a place we’re certain you’re sure to love, too.

It doesn’t take anyone long to realize this is a uni ue sort of place. It’s a place rich in history with a character all its own. Maybe you’ll realize it when you’re ipping through the radio stations and stumble across the only local radio station with its daily polka show or the noontime Trading Post. Maybe you’ll realize it when you stop by the gas station and hear a couple locals chattering away in their native Czech. Or maybe it’s something you can pick up in the smiles on people’s faces and the hospitality they’re sure to show you.

Because, if you’re in Lavaca County long at all, you’ll realize there’s uite a lot that makes this place so special.

DISCOVER

LAVACA COUNTY

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o re uest a itional copies or place a vertisin in uture e itions o iscover avaca ounty please call our Hallettsville office at (361) 798-2481 or stop by 504 W. airwin s t. urin nor al business ours.

© 2023 Preuss Newspapers. ll ri ts reserve . C e avaca ounty ourt ouse is a central at erin place or everyone in t e county.

Whether you’re a local who wants to keep up with everything that’s going on in Lavaca County, or a visitor to one of our vibrant communities, keep this calendar handy as a comprehensive reference. — Page 34

A L C C

A Brief History of Lavaca County

The earliest recorded visitor to our county of uropean descent was the Frenchman en obert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who tramped through the area on an ill-fated expedition in 1685.

Local lore says La Salle named the river that ows through the middle of our county for the bu alo he saw grazing on its banks. He called it Les eches, which translated from the French, literally means The Cattle.

Spaniards later translated the words to their own language, calling it La Baca, meaning cow, and, a couple generations of Anglo mis-

pronunciations later tossed together with rampant illiteracy, and, voil , the hard B sound switched to to better re ect how people said it. By so doing, they formed a new word altogether with Lavaca, which names both the river and county. on’t take that wrong: Those first settlers were hardly stupid. Their heirs wouldn’t be here today if they were.

But when folks like Stephen F. Austin and reen eWitt brought the first families to settle here, most were a lot more concerned with staying alive than who among them could read or write.

CRED T ERE T DUE

The photos that accompany this story were pulled from the Portal to Texas History, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries, which includes the Saving Texas History Collection and was provided by the Friench Simpson Memorial Library in Hallettsville. Both the Portal and the Friench Simpson Memorial Library curate a delightful array of historic photographs depicting life in this area from about the mid-1880s to today.

An undated and uncredited photograph of the parade around the Lavaca County Courthouse square. There are two wagons in the picture with men riding in them holding flags. The wagon on the left is being pulled by two horses, and the wagon on the right is being pulled by two mules. There is a banner above the street that says “Welcome to the National Hall,” and there are unidentified buildings in the background. There is something written across the top of the photograph, not in English.

Sure, nature may have given them plenty of beautiful sights to see, but about the only other thing that awaited them when they rst got here was about a thousand ways to die.

ose rst settlers built the rst roads, the rst homes, the rst churches, the rst farms and ranches, the rst schools, the rst places of commerce, and ultimately, the various communities and towns that you nd here today.

ey e ectively ended illiteracy here, too, so they were hardly ignorant.

Still, forced to rely solely on your ears as you learn what things are called—like the name of a river, for instance, versus seeing that word spelled out—there’s a solid chance that things got misspoken, now and again. Lavaca was one those examples.

RIVER OF LIFE

e river itself—whose name was, in 1846, adopted as the county’s as well—curves its way south and east from just north of Moulton on down through the heart of Hallettsville, where its waters follow a generally southerly path before it’s joined by the Navidad River, below Lake Texana, and eventually spills into Lavaca Bay near the town of Lolita, in Jackson County.

Farther south, o the shores of Calhoun County, the waters of Lavaca Bay merge with Matagorda Bay, and eventually work their way past Matagorda Island, a natural barrier island, to join the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

e river has long attracted various peoples to the lands along its banks. Archaeologists tell us that people have populated this region since at least 10,000 B.C. It was a particular favorite of the Karankawa and Tonkawa, plus plenty of evidence suggests that the Lipan Apache and Comanche were no strangers here

either.

Most native groups either moved on or died out after the rst of the Europeans showed up with their white man ways and a full battery of deadly diseases that none in this new land had ever experienced before. Scarcely a trace of them is found after about 1850.

Today, Lavaca County is home to some 20,589 souls, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimates, and based on current population trends over the last few decades, it realizes a roughly 1% growth every couple of years.

Considering someone spotting what they thought were cows on the riverbank eventually led to how the county got its name, you should also know that cattle still play a huge part of many people’s everyday lives here in Lavaca County.

And right they should, because the latest farm data tells us that the county is also home to some 105,000

head of cattle, which means cows outnumber people here by more than 5 to 1.

It’s numbers like those that work to ensure Lavaca County and its neighbors—places like DeWitt, Fayette, Goliad, Gonzales and Victoria counties—swap places every few years for No. 1 spot as the single largest cattle producing county in Texas.

In a state that’s legendary for beef production, that really is something worth bragging about.

INDEPENDENT AIRS

Using Spanish land grants given to Stephen F. Austin and Green DeWitt by Mexico, settlers began populating this region in the 1820s.

Even in those earliest days, however, there was something a bit di erent about those who settled what would one day become Lavaca County. ey had a certain rub about them, a smack of rebelliousness to anyone or anything that might try

Wreck of the Don Milo Photograph of the Lavaca River Bridge after the wreck of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass “Don Milo” freight train. There are pieces of the wreck still in the water, and there are men on what is left of the bridge, on the bank, and in the water. A train engine is on the tracks just before the bridge. There are cows in the background. According to the accompanying article, the wreck happened on Saturday, January 5, 1890 at 5:30 P.M. after heavy rainfall, and three people were killed.

and dictate what they could or could not do.

Call it an air of independence, if you will, a refusal to stay hitched to what you might call the existing order of things. But they always tended to march to drummers all their own.

Blame it on genetics, if you like, but it’s part of what makes our county what it is today.

Just know that its history is loaded with acts of outright de ance. From branding Santa Anna a tyrant to calling Abraham Lincoln a damn Yankee and Je erson Davis a whore to the Old South’s rich aristocracy, Lavaca County was always at the forefront, and you can pretty much guess where they stood on Prohibition.

So, should someone happen to refer to our county as “the Free State of Lavaca,” just know we came by it honest. We earned that title, time and again. To many of us, it’s a badge of honor we wear proudly.

Not surprising then, less than a decade after settling in this region, Lavaca County found itself witnessing some of the rst action in what later got called the Texas War for

Independence, and guess where the rst cries for revolution sounded loudest. Yep, that was us…

It should be noted that long before Continued on page 57

Monarch Saloon Float

Undated photograph of the Monarch Saloon parade float. The float is on a wagon pulled by horses or mules, and it is full of people holding glasses of beer and waving flags. It and another float are parked in front of an unknown building. According to accompanying information and the banner on the float, C. Elstner was the proprietor.

Photo by Fey & Braunig 1878/1909

CO UN TY RO LE Hallettsville A

Jak se mas, pardner Welcome to Hallettsville, set in the heart of Lavaca County at the intersection of Highways 77 and 90 Alternate.

As the county seat for Lavaca County, Hallettsville is home to the historic sandstone courthouse, which stands proud and prominent in the center of town as one of her most distinguishable features. Built in 1897, it serves as the main seat of county government, as well as home county’s legal system. It houses the courts for two visiting Texas district court judges.

The town itself was founded in 1831 by Margaret Hallett, the pioneer wife of a decorated veteran of the Texas evolution. After her husband’s death, Hallett opened her trading post along the eastern banks of the Lavaca iver. Barring the occasional raid by Tonkawa, Apache and Comanche until as late as 1850, her trading post was almost

always hopping, day or night. By then literally hundreds of Czech and erman settlers began immigrating here to settle the many farms and ranches that dot the lands surrounding the town. Those two groups contributed greatly to the community’s uni ue culture and heritage, even today.

The oldest buildings in town surround the courthouse in your typical old town s uare. While most long ago gave up their rowdier pasts as bars and saloons, the s uare and other nearby streets once played host to 13 di erent bars one for each editor or so the story goes all to go with the 13 newspapers that also located here, publishing in nglish, Czech and erman.

One of the s uare’s main attractions is the Hallet Oak allery, an exhibition gallery that doubles as a gathering place for the arts. The two-story corner building, originally

built in 1890, plays host to intimate concerts, painting classes and even the occasional party.

One of the biggest events held on the s uare each year happens the final Saturday of November. They call it the Festival of Lights, and it’s when the townspeople ring in the Christmas season by lighting the many thousands of lights strung from the top of the clocktower to the many businesses down below, to form the county’s largest Christmas tree that can be seen from miles away.

The s uare is also host to the annual Kolache Fest parade and fun run each September, destination for the annual Harris County Sheri ’s Posse trail ride, held in the days leading up to the Houston Stock Show odeo, and various local car shows and other events held throughout the year.

Most other events take place at

the Hallettsville KC Hall, an organization which celebrated its centennial in 2023 and annually hosts the Texas State omino Tournament in anuary, the State Championship 42 Tournament, the Polka Sausage Festival, and Fiddlers Frolics, where the official Texas State Fiddle Champion is crowned each April. There’s also the semiannual Sacred Heart Catholic Church picnics held the Sundays before Memorial ay and Labor ay, respectively, the uarterly Hallettsville Market ays, and much more.

So, swing on by that little town on the Lavaca that’s as uni ue as its name. There’s no place else in the world called Hallettsville, and it’s a place with a personality as uni ue as its name. Whether you’re coming for your next weekend getaway, enjoying a night out at one of their many fine restaurants or at the movies, looking for that perfect place to call home or just passing through, it’s a town you’re sure to love.

CO UN TY RO LE Shiner

Spend much time around Shiner, and you’ll uickly learn that this is a little town with a huge reputation. But if you stop and talk with the good folks who call Shiner home, you’ll find their fame is a long way from getting to their heads.

Shiner sits on the crossroads of Highway 90A between Hallettsville and onzales and Highway 95 between oakum and Moulton. With its brightly painted houses and its bustling businesses, the charming little city is the uintessential Texas town, and it won’t take long to find that there’s plenty to discover in Shiner.

Shiner has its roots in the mid1800s. It began as an outpost called Half Moon, but it was renamed Shiner, after a man who donated a plot of land for the railroad depot.

The railroad attracted people to the area, and the village grew uickly. The culture the Czech and

erman migrants brought with them created the foundation for the Shiner community that’s still evident today.

One thing the early astern uropeans brought with them to the Cleanest Little City was a love of beer and a knack for brewing it. Shiner’s famous Spoetzl Brewery was founded in 1909 and purchased by Kosmos Spoetzl in 1915.

Spoetzl, a Bavarian brewmaster who had brewed everywhere from Cairo to Canada, renamed the brewery after himself and managed it for almost half a century. The brewery survived Prohibition, and it continued brewing through the end of the 1900s. uring the last two decades, production has soared and caused the brewery to explode in size. The now not-so-little-brewery announced in 2019 that it ships beer to all 50 states as well as every U.S. military base found on

the planet. It produces a wide range of avors inspired by the brewery’s Czech, erman and Texan heritage.

The brewery is a fun stop for beer aficionados as well as teetotalers alike (though we bet it’s a lot more fun for that first group, really). The gift shop and taproom are open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and on Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. The hospitality room features a gift shop and, new this year, at tasting room for their new distillery.

Better still, you can purchase beer tokens to sample many seasonal and harder-to-find varieties (if nothing else, just to see if those fruity varieties or IPAs are even avors you like, rather than shell out your hard-earned cash on six or 12 of them).

The Spoetzl usually features live music every weekend, with several di erent local and area acts playing

throughout the day. e lineup is constant changing, and some of the larger weekend events, like some of the newer barbecue cooko s held there, often don’t see promotions until the very last minute. As such, we suggest you check out their Facebook page for the latest. www. facebook.com/SpoetzlBrewery

One of their larger events is the Great Austin to Shiner Pedal (GASP), a 100-mile bike ride from Austin to the brewery held each year. e brewery also hosts a couple of half-marathons through the year, as well as regular car and motorcycle shows.

If you’d rather skip all the health nuts running about during your own private drinking time, come back in October when the local Lion’s Club hosts its Pivo and Kolache .5k Fun Run.

Veteran’s Day in November in always a ne time, too.

Because one fact holds as true today as it ever has in Shiner—or anyplace else in Lavaca County, for that matter—people here are all about God and country, which suits most veterans just ne.

Another of Shiner’s Czech-inspired landmarks is the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church.

e Romanesque Chapel saw its centennial in 2021, complete with celebration of mass o ered by Bishop Brendon Cahill of the Victoria Diocese, followed by noontime reception and meal. e church even paired up with the Spoetzl Brewery for some limited-edition, collector’s item “Picnic Beer” promotional held in conjunction with Shiner’s 100th annual church picnic on Labor Day Weekend 2021.

Both Shiner and Hallettsville’s Sacred Heart hold dueling church picnics twice a year, both of them taking place the Sunday’s of Memorial Day Weekend and Labor Day Weekend. You don’t want to miss those.

e church sits on a rise on the east side of town. e building’s red brick façade and ornate spire give it a medieval appearance. Its ornamentation isn’t kept only to the church’s exterior. It’s equally grand inside as well, with vivid paintings and heavenly scenes adorning its domed ceiling over the altarpiece at the front of the church, sleek marble columns support an ornate vaulted ceiling laced with gilded ribbons, and massive stained-glass windows that ll the entire place with spectacular array of color. Built in 1920s, it remains active today for parishioners of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church, who host thousands of guests each year at their picnics, held at KC Park, just a few blocks west of the church.

Another of the town’s biggest festivals takes place on the Fourth of July each year. Half Moon Holidays is basically a two-day festival held

at Shiner’s beautiful Green Dickson Park. Half Moon Holidays features the usual mix of games, a barbecue cook-o , live music performances, a petting zoo and the annual reworks show, which if you’ve never been, prepare to be impressed. It’s not every town with slightly more than 2,000 residents that can put on a half-hour reworks show each July 4.

Shiner can, and Shiner does.

Shiner even has its own radio station, 99.9 Texas under. About the only thing Shiner doesn’t have is its own movie theater. Fortunately, it doesn’t really need one. It’s got its own Gaslight eatre, which produces live stage theatrical productions throughout the year. e Gaslight cast and crew is made up of volunteers from Shiner and surrounding communities. e Gaslight is housed inside the old Shiner Opera House, an 1895 building that has served as everything from a

wedding hall to a political rallying point over the years. Today you’ll find the inhabitants of the Opera House sticking to the more theatrical pursuits. Showtimes and tickets are available on their website.

Also be sure and check out the city’s many fine restaurants, several are newly opened in the last few years.

One of those places, the Palace Saloon, with its restored pressedtin ceilings and an anti ue bar that spans the entire length of the building, is one of several business ventures owned by the Booth family of Shiner, who have been instrumental in launching Shiner Market ay. It features dozens of vendors, food trucks, live music performances, games and activities for the kids, and great Shiner hospitality. It’s held the third Saturday each month, and features bands people love.

est assured, there’s always something new in store of at Shin-

er’s owntown Market ays.

And no trip to Shiner would be complete without a visit to the dwin Wolters Memorial Museum in Shiner, or with its curator and local historian u Wagner. Where else can you find a collection of dinosaur bones alongside a baseball card collection, featuring all the many Major League Baseball players who once called Shiner home.

id you know that the very first agle Scout west of the Mississippi iver hailed from Shiner, too? Or that Shiner has more agle Scouts per capita than any other place in the whole country?

ou can see impressive collections of most every sort beer bottles, collectible plates, saltshakers, electric insulators, typewriters, bird eggs, you name it all of it graciously donated by the many fine folks of Shiner. Trust us, the only thing you’ll run short of there is time to see it all.

Not ready to call it a day yet? Then swing by Howard’s for a cold beverage and some warm conversation. How about checking who’s playing at the Palace Saloon, also a nighttime music venue featuring all sorts of talented performers. If a good old-fashioned bar is more to your tastes, swing by Shiner’s on Sixth where you can shoot a game of pool, catch the latest game, or even play a few games of dominoes.

In a county filled with friendly people and smiling faces, Shiner’s inviting atmosphere stands out from the crowd.

Maybe it’s the town’s rich cultural heritage, hundreds of active community volunteers or its easygoing attitude. Perhaps it’s all the pretty countryside that surrounds it. Or maybe it’s just all that good Shiner beer. No matter what makes Shiner such a pleasant place to visit, you’re sure to be glad you did when you get here.

Yoakum

oakum is one of those places that always found itself thrust into the spotlight over the past 15 or so decades.

For it’s a town steeped in history, a place that earned itself the respective titles of Hub City as the epicenter of the South Texas railway system, the leather capital of World for its many fine leather crafters and saddle makers who made the place a leader in leather production, known worldwide. And as its annual festival Tom Tom, held each une, might suggest still, a state leader in tomato production, of all things.

The city retains much of the spirit that was tied to those past enterprises, even if you’ll find just about as

many meat packers as saddle shops these days. oakum holds onto its history and incorporates it into a modern community that seems created especially for the one-of-a-kind Texans you’re sure to find at almost every turn in this uni ue town when you visit her today.

oakum actually sits on the county line between Lavaca and eWitt counties. It’s found at the crossroads of U.S. 77 Alternate between Cuero and Hallettsville and U.S. 111, between dna and Hochheim. And Texas 95 butts up to it’s northernmost edges in Lavaca County, connecting the city to Shiner and then Moulton, both spaced at roughly 10-mile intervals traveling along that road.

It was officially founded in 1889, and as Texas is famous for, it had its roots in the state’s most classical of enterprises, the cattle business. More specifically even, oakum was first full- edged town to incorporate along the great Chisholm Trail, the legendary cattle drive route following the Civil War that brought Texas cattle (longhorns mostly) to the Kansas railheads.

ven today still, it’s not difficult to picture cowboys like us McCrae or Capt. Woodrow Call, riding loose in the saddle through the town’s historic downtown district. Still, it was the railroad which worked to truly solidify its foundation, and by 1887, the city was transformed by a large rail yard, complete with one of

a few roundhouses scattered across Texas at the time, where train cars and more speci cally, their engines, could be turn to travel in most any direction.

e city took its name from one Benjamin Yoakum, manager of San Antonio Aransas Pass line which rst put the town on the map, e ectively connecting Yoakum, as well as most other cities in the county, to the rest of the world.

It would take the First World War (or, e Great War, as it was known then) for the next industry to catch on, and bring the sort of energetic craftsman it would take to turn it into the Leather Capitol of the World.” Turns out, a fellow by the name of Welhausen bought the town’s tannery and transformed it into a humming factory that spit out belts, bridals, wallets and assorted other leather goods out by the millions. Soon, leathercrafters from the world over were ocking Yoakum, making goods like saddles, purses and even boots, all of which were much sought after commodities worldwide.

Some of the town’s remaining leather shops still cater to only the highest end clients in many parts of the world. And the town chamber’s Royal Court still wears sashes made of nely tooled leather crafted right there in their own hometown. Plus the many tools of the trade still comprise some of the largest exhibits on display over at the local museum, where a few of the city’s more extravagant saddles, leather belts and handbags are also kept on display.

Yoakum has also always had many ne shops and boutiques making it a one-stop shop for fashion connoisseurs, and when it comes to high fashion, Double D Western Wear is one of the granddaddies of them all. Not only have their products found regular sales in some of the very best boutiques and department stores in places New

York, Paris and San Francisco, they also out t many well-known celebrities, such singer Tanya Tucker, actresses Reece Witherspoon and Juliana Moore, and even the Kardashians of reality TV fame.

Many of their clothes and accessories are inspired by Yoakum’s Wild West history, and despite its recognizable labels they still mange to keep a shop open right there where they started, at the heart of Yoakum’s downtown historic district, which was added to the national registry of historic downtowns just prior to the arrival of the COVID pandemic, in late 2019.

With marble pillared facades and intricate brickwork lining the streets many of the sidewalks still have the old metal rings driven into the concrete, remnants of a bygone era where people rode their horses to town.

One of the more recent treasures to reopen in recent years in the downtown area is the Grand eater, a local two-plex theater which features all reclining chairs inside of one of them. e town also has many ne eating establishments,

and as of this month, the town’s lone orist, Ann Clark, owner of Ann’s Flowers, o cially celebrates a full ve decades since she rst opened her doors. Congratulations, Ann! Much of the work downtown has been the product of work headed up by the Yoakum Economic development Corp. and Chamber of Commerce, who hand and hand, have served as driving forces, economically. e YEDC is in the early stages of opening a new city industrial, out by its airport, and its local hospital and clinics are second to none when it comes to local health care.

e Chamber is also responsible for some of the town’s biggest events held each year, which serve as a draw to local businesses, eateries and hotels there in the city. A coupe of those include Christmas on the Grand in early December and the annual TomTom festival in early June.

e city’s easygoing western lifestyle is still quite characteristic of the place today. It’s a trait you’re sure to see whenever you pay them visit, be it your very rst, or the last time you want to be anyplace else.

YOA U ER TA E U EU YE TERDAY TODAY TO ORRO

The Yoakum Heritage Museum is a historic museum housed in an antebellum home at 312 Simpson, Yoakum.

William and Mary Bell Browning deeded their home to the museum. The Browning Store was first and famous as they offered their fully lined men’s wool suits for $39.

During World War II, Mr. Browning sent care packages to men and women serving overseas. He collected more than 800 exquisite photos of those serving from surrounding local counties. Recently, the museum archived these photos for viewing in the Military Room.

The Museum Board and Team of Volunteers take great pride in preserving past antiquities and contributions from the community as well as its surrounding areas.

Last month, Yoakum celebrated its 95th year of the tomato harvest that took place in the mid1920s. According to lore, more than 300 box cars of “premium,” tissue-wrapped tomatoes were shipped to the northeast.

The Tom Tom Festival started in 1927 with elaborate pageants and queens accompanied with a variety of lavish royalties. As many as 20,000 people came from far and

wide to attend the parades.

This year, Raelee Schlegel and the Yoakum Heritage Museum coordinated contacting past queens to return to Yoakum so they might be recognized and honored by riding on their own float in the parade. Thirteen queens returned during the celebration. There is now a 7-foot life size scroll of 95 queens hanging in the museum upstairs hallway.

It will not be long now… the Christmas Tree Forest is well known for their Christmas trees. The tradition began in 1986. Anyone can decorate a tree in the Tree Forest. The theme this year is: “Reminiscing in Shades of Purple.” More than 800 children will tour the Tree Forest with a real Santa ready to listen to their wishes. Tradition has it there is always a Night at the Museum when all of the trees are especially spectacular at night. The Museum Open House will begin Thursday, November 16 at the end of Yoakum’s Chamber Event… Sip & Shop Day!

A trip to the museum is not complete without visiting the Leather Room. There are 14 historic saddles on display, (three saddles date from well over 100 years ago), as

U EU OUR Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday 1-4 PM Friday 10 AM-4 PM 361-2 3- 022 yoakumheritagemuseum gmail.com

well as many other items that have been loaned to the museum.

At one time there were 27 tanneries in Yoakum. Welhausen almost made the 100 year mark… only short by two years.

Welhausen began their leather business by initially making whips for the riders of the Chisholm Trail. Later, they became well known for providing saddles for around the world.

The favorite museum exhibit is the Train Room, a live running miniature train.

The City of Yoakum was born on July 28, 1887 when the first train of San Antonio Aransas Pass (S.A.A.P.) Railroad reached this area of south Texas.

The Yoakum Heritage Museum is currently modeling the miniature walk-over bridge as well as the Round House with the specialty shops.

The train table should be complete for initial viewing at this upcoming Christmas Tree Forest.

Yoakum Heritage Museum Float awarded “Best in Show” with 13 past Tom-Tom ueens. From left to right 2014 McKenzie (Heller) Koehne, 2021 Julia Fojt, 2020 Jillian Pohl, 1 6 Carol Jean (Foxell) Henke, 1 8 Lori (Kasper) Strauss, 2011 Lesley (Seidenberger) Janak, 2012 Pennie Vick, 1 88 Lacy (DeDear) Murphy, 1 Michele (Prause) Alvarez, 200 Candace ( immerman) Vinklarek, 2018 Kaci Herman, 201 Gabrielle Moreno, 201 .

CO UN TY RO LE Moulton

AAbout the time that Mexico attained its independence from Spain in early 1820s, Moses Austin and his son, Stephen F. Austin, together with reen eWitt and other American settlers made their way through surveying the area. They believed it was good land for settling families wanting to establish new roots.

One of the earliest Anglo settlers to the Moulton area was avid Burkett, who arrived as one of reen eWitt’s original colonists during the early 1830’s. The deed for his land grant was dated May 4, 1832, and it covered a large parcel of land

about one mile north of the present Moulton townsite. Other colonists soon filtered into the region drawn by the deep, fertile soil and its rich bounty.

There was no organized settlement in the beginning. Separate families lived throughout the region in isolated cabins, each working the land they owned. Further settlement came to an abrupt halt in October 1835, with the Come and Take It Battle at onzales. People who lived in what was to become the Moulton area got caught up in the Texas evolution, as did most who lived in Texas did then. Soon

after the Alamo fell, en. Sam Houston abandoned onzales and burned much of it, leaving nothing of value for the Mexican Army when it arrived.

Part of the Texas Army camped on the ast Fork of the Lavaca iver on March 15, 1836, the site of a State Historical Marker today (located near the present site of the American Legion Hall).

The Texans camped there brie y, long enough for a small 6-year-old black slave boy to meet and speak with en. Sam Houston. That young boy, Mose Chappel, later went on to become one of Moulton’s oldest

and most unforgettable citizens.

Nobody knows for certain how Moulton got its name. One theory suggests that it came from a native of Moulton, Ala., who named the place after his old hometown. Others suggest it took its name from one E.L. Moulton, one of the area’s early pioneer settlers. Yet another says it had something to do with clustered oaks which are called motts?

Wherever it came from, it stuck, and by the early 1850s, many Old South families moved to Texas and came to Moulton to make their homes. Starting then and continuing through the turn of the 20th Century, droves of mostly Czech and German immigrants began arriving by the thousands.

Driven out by near constant revolutions and wars in Europe, they came to Central Texas wanting simply to live in peace, work the land and begin new lives in America.

In 1887, the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad Co. laid a spur from Yoakum northward to Waco. Soon after the railroad was nished, a depot was built on the west side of the tracks. e railroad dubbed it the Topeka depot. It wasn’t long until that little depot became the economic center of the area. e rst business opened in Moulton that same year, a general store owned by Ed Boehm with later additions that also housed a saloon, barber shop and the post o ce.

To handle the large in ux of people arriving in the growing community, Samuel Moore and his family built the large, 32-room Moore Hotel in 1888. e hotel was located directly east of the tracks and the depot. In 1890, C.M. Kotzebue purchased the hotel from the Moore family, and it continued under the management of the Kotzebue family until 1940 when it was demolished to make way for a new business, the Pundt’s Café. at was later remod-

eled, and it currently houses Kloesel’s Steak House and Bar.

A large two-story hospital was established on McKinney Street in 1910-1911 by the Drs. John and Frank Guenther. e city added a placard recognizing that facility within the last couple of years.

Since its founding, Moulton has had only one newspaper. e Moulton Eagle has reported events and recorded the history of the community since Feb. 3, 1900.

In 1913, F.T. Fehrenkamp erected a large 300-foot by 70-foot lumber shed beside the railroad tracks. e Lumber Shed is currently owned by Hi-Way Lumber Company and still stands today.

Samuel Butler and William J. Moore built the Sam and Will Moore Institute in 1900-1901. eir original school building remains still and serves as the current Moulton High School. Looking out its windows into one of the massive live oaks that form a canopy around the old school, we dare you to nd a more beautiful school anyplace.

e school recently completed a $14 million bond project, that added several new buildings, brought some renovations to others and brought items like a modern band

hall, an impressive library facility, an all new ag sciences building and so much more. What’s more, the new buildings were designed to match existing structures, like the high school building. Sam and Will Moore would be proud to see what’s become of their institute.

e town was o cially incorporated in 1938. While the once rowdy little frontier town might’ve left its pioneer days behind, we’re certain you’ll nd that Moulton hasn’t lost any of its unique character.

ey have multiple events each year like the Moulton Town Country Jamboree (the last full weekend in July), the M+14 Barbecue Cooko (second Saturday in October) and the annual National Night Out Event (hosted by the Moulton Police Department).

ere are also citywide garage sales held twice each year, several large active clubs and organizations for both kids and adults alike, and a host of downtown events held through the year, most notably, the Moulton Chamber’s annual Christmas Lights Festival, Wine Walk and Street Dance.

We’re sure if you stop by for a visit you’ll want to come back soon. Check them out today!

CO UN TY RO LE

TEzzell is noted for being the oldest settled area in Lavaca County. Initial settlement was between 1830 and 1836 when members of Stephen F. Austin’s Old 300 arrived. The name comes from storekeepers Sam and Ira zzell, who operated a store here prior to the Civil War.

Classes were taught in various church buildings after the war until 1883, when a proper school was constructed.

No population figures are available prior to 1980 when 55 residents were reported. The town has a church, school, and a historical marker, however there are currently no businesses.

According to the Texas Historical Marker for zzell School, In the early 1850s pioneers of this area erected a building two miles north of this site which they called White House Christian Church and School because of the contrast its lime coating pre-

sented against the surrounding green prairie.

In 1883 the school was moved to a building in the community of zzell on land donated by Andrew arner. It was the community’s first public school and was named zzell for local merchants Sam and Ira zzell.

In 1922 a new 4-room school building was erected at this site on land donated by r. . A. vans. Three additional acres were purchased from L. A. Bishop in 1923. In 1925 students from the nearby Live Oak School began attending zzell School. zzell’s three teachers and nine grades served more than 100 pupils in 1935. Prior to World War II the zzell School building also served as the site for draft registrations.

Unlike many area rural schools which closed during the 1950s and 1960s, zzell continued to grow as the area it served expanded. In 1975 a new wing was added to the east side

of the building to accommodate more students. In 1989 three classrooms, a science lab, and several physical education facilities were added. Today zzell operates as an elementary school. (1994)

Today, the school and a small country church is all that remains in zzell. The school, one of three small rural districts that remain in Lavaca County today, began o ering high school curriculum in 2022, launching an all-new FFA Chapter that proved wildly popular in zzell, boasting nearly half the school’s population between the FFA and junior chapter membership as they made use of a uni ue four-day school schedule in Lavaca County that also seemed uite successful for the little district. And in 2023, the school handed out its first high school diploma in more than six decades when they graduated their first senior since prior to World War II.

Open: Tuesday - Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

We get calls all the time at our news offices from people tracing their ancestry here, hoping they might stop by sometime and peruse our back editions. They call from everywhere, all over the country. Not terribly surprising, really, if their families were anything like mine. My grandmother and her siblings packed their farmhouse with a full baker’s dozen when she was growing up. My grandfather was one of 12. Thing is, lots of families were exactly like them, back in those days.

But that doesn’t even begin to account for the many who came here and eventually moved on, long before my ancestors even arrived. So, chances are, there are lots of people whose roots, at one time or another, can likely be traced back here.

Thing is, though, none of our news offices keep much in the way of historical records anymore. Most

went to our local libraries, ages ago. Plus, as part of partnership with the University of North Texas and the Texas Press Association, nearly every surviving copy of the newspapers have been moving (or are moving) to digital form, accessible today by anyone with the internet, from the comfort of their own homes.

But where’s the fun in that?

History always tastes better when experienced, not just read about. We suggest you go find those places your family found here. See them for yourself, with your own eyes. See what drew your people here. And feel what they felt as you retrace their steps. Then, learn more about the place by one of the historical markers you’ll find. Because trust me, if one’s not standing there prominent, right where you are, keep looking. One’s nearby someplace.

Lavaca County has more than

110 markers already, with new ones going up all the time. We take great pride in our history. As you trace your roots back through here, you will, too. And if local history and family genealogy is what you’re after, then here’s a few places you must see:

• Lavaca Historical Museum

They have several great displays on a diverse array of topics, as well as several local authors’ books which detail certain aspects of those histories. They even have copies of all the Hall of Fame honorees from Fiddler’s Frolics, Polka Fest and other events at the Hallettsville KC Hall. The museum opens 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays and noon to 4 p.m. on Fridays. It’s located at 1205 N. Texana in Hallettsville; Phone: (361) 798-4113; http:// lavacahistoricalmuseum.org/.

• Friench Simpson Memorial Li-

brary— eir local history/genealogy collection concentrates on Lavaca County and adjoining counties. A wide range of materials is available, including books, micro lms and historic photographs. Collection highlights include 11 books written by Judge Paul C. Boethel and six books of cemetery listings. e archives include World War II news clippings, rural school photographs, Hallettsville Volunteer Fire Department records, and Masonic records.

eir micro lm collection features the 1850-1920 Lavaca County census, tax rolls and issues of the Hallettsville Herald, Tribune-Herald and New Era, e Shiner Gazette, e Moulton Eagle and the Yoakum Herald-Times and much more. Located at 705 E. Fourth St. in Hallettsville, they’re open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays and ursdays, noon to 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays, and they are closed Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays; Phone: (361) 7983243; https://hallettsvillelibrary.org/.

• Lavaca County Historical Commission—Links to several past historical conferences held in Lavaca County’s various communities through the years, as well as contact information for the organization itself and its president, Doug Kubicek, hands down the foremost scholars on Lavaca County history. http://www.lavacacountyhistory. org/historical_commission.htm, and be sure to Like/Follow on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/LavacaCountyHistoricalCommission/.

• e Lavaca County TXGenWeb Project— is is a wonderful online tool for those searching local genealogical information, with links to local birth, death and marriage records; cemetery data and miles of obituaries; U.S. Census Data starting in 1850; biographies and genealogical information on various families in the county; links to other TXGenWeb Project counties nearby; and even a message board that might

prove useful for speci c questions. http://www.lavacacountyhistory. org/.

• Carl & Mary Welhausen Library—Set inside the repurposed old city power plant, the Yoakum public library is as architecturally unique as it is structurally beautiful. eir genealogy collection includes copies of the Beck and Bu ngton Funeral Homes ledgers, copies of E.F. Smith’s scrapbook collection of Lavaca County Tribune obituaries, Yoakum school yearbooks, Yoakum city directories and phone books, and much more. Yoakum’s newspapers are getting micro lmed. It’s located at 810 Front St. in Yoakum; Phone: (361) 293-5001; https://www. cityofyoakum.org/Library.html.

• Yoakum Heritage Museum Railroad and rawhide exhibits form the crux of the regular exhibits, along with visiting/seasonal displays. Housed in a 1912 residence at 312 Simpson St. on Yoakum, the museum contains a large collection of memorabilia and photos of the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railroad, which connected all the towns in this county at one point. Hours are 1-4 p.m. Sundays, Tuesdays and ursdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays; Phone: (361) 293-7022; http://www. yoakumareachamber.com/visit-yoakum/experience-history/.

• Edwin Wolters Memorial Museum—Shiner native and museum curator Du Wagner has an encyclopedic grasp of the families who built Shiner and the events that brought them together in this westernmost settlement in Lavaca County. Its vast holdings, most donated by those very same families who made Shiner what it is today, are a must-see for any local history bu , as well as anyone tracing a family tree whose branch swept past here. Located at 306 S. Ave. I in Shiner, they’re open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, ursdays and Fridays and from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays; Phone: (361) 5943774; http://www.woltersmuseum. org/home.html.

• Ho e & Lank Wolters Public Library – Dedicated in 1994 thanks to a generous roughly half-million-dollar donation given by Ho e Wolters to build a public library and cultural center in Shiner, they are now home to more than 60 years’ worth of the city’s earliest printed records. Most notably, nearly 3,000 digitized editions of e Shiner Gazette they have on le, dating to the 1890s. e library, located at 115 E. Wolters St. in Shiner, is open 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through ursdays and 8-11 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays; Phone: (361) 594-3044; http://shinerpubliclibrary.org/.

LAVACA COUNTY CALENDAR

Whether you’re a local who wants to keep up with everything that’s going on in Lavaca County, or a visitor to one of our vibrant communities, keep this calendar handy as a comprehensive reference.

(Note: Dates and times were accurate at the time of publication in July 2023.)

Sunday, July 23

JULY

Miss Moulton Pageant — Who will join her in her Royal Court Directors with Moulton Chamber of Commerce make that call and it starts with the afternoon pageant at Moulton’s American Legion Hall.

Friday, July 28

George Kalisek (featured on Page 41) built a fine event venue to showcase his town and tonight he throws open its doors. It’s got burgers, beverages, and Shiner’s Second Wind, live on stage. See you there

Saturday & Sunday, July 29-30

It’s Moulton Jamboree time, when all roads lead to the “Little City with a Heart as Big as Texas,” for plenty live music, good food, cold drinks and a host of events planned throughout, including a softball tournament, bouncy houses and splash pool for the kids, a cornhole tournament, washers, horseshoes, a parade, the Tractor Tug, a car show, vintage tractors, lots of vendors, the annual pie auction, and barbecue cookoffs.

The Moulton Jamboree kicks off the last weekend in July.

AUGUST

Wednesday Aug. 2 Sacred Heart High School Orientation, 7 p.m.

Friday through Sunday, Aug. 4-6

The Schulenburg Festival kicks off with live rodeo action, fantastic nightly concerts from some of the best in Texas, with lots of great food and cold drinks to wash it all down, all just north of the county line.

Sunday, Aug. 6

Yoakum St. Joseph’s Catholic Church Picnic, taking place at the Yoakum Community Center. One of the

county’s oldest parishes, they’ve got some fabulous food, plenty to drink, a cakewalk, country store, Bingo and don’t miss the big live auction.

Monday Aug. 7 Ezzell ISD First Day of School for 2023-24 school year.

Wednesday, Aug. 9 Yoakum St. Joseph’s Catholic School First Day of Classes for 2023-24 school year.

Thursday, Aug. 10

• Hallettsville High School 2023 Fish Camp (Freshman Orientation) takes place 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the high

school cafeteria.

• Moulton ISD’s First Day of Classes for 2023-24 school year.

• Sacred Heart Schools First Day of Classes for 2023-24 school year.

• Shiner Catholic Schools First Day of Classes for 2023-24 school year.

Sunday, Aug. 13

• Hallettsville KCs Barbecue Plates to Go, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South, Hallettsville.

• St. Michael’s Catholic Church Picnic in Weimar. Always held the second Sunday in August. Call 979-725-6714 for more information.

Tuesday, Aug. 15

It’s the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which also means it’s time for the Prazska Pout! It’s the great granddaddy of church picnics each summer in Praha, and because it’s always on Aug. 15, there’s no telling which day it may fall.

Wednesday, Aug. 16

• Shiner ISD First Day of School for 2023-24 school year.

• Sweet Home ISD First Day of School for 2023-24 school year.

• Vysehrad ISD First Day of School for 2023-24 school year.

• Yoakum ISD First Day of School for 2023-24 school year.

Thursday, Aug. 17

Hallettsville ISD First Day of School for 2023-24 school year.

Saturday, Aug. 19

• Hallettsville Market Days have just one more round before Christmas at the Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

• Shiner Downtown Market Days, loaded with vendors out, with plenty of good food and cold drinks, not to mention a good band or three.

Monday, Aug. 21

Lavaca County Area Go Texan Barbecue Plates to Go, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South, Hallettsville.

Sunday, Aug. 27

Cistern Catholic Church Picnic occurs in Flatonia. Lots of good food with good friends, and plenty cold drinks to wash it all down.

Thursday, Aug. 31

The City of Moulton celebrates its 86th anniversary.

SEPTEMBER

Friday to Sunday, Sept. 1-3

Moulton’s Semiannual Citywide Garage Sale, happening all over town every day of the sale.

Sunday, Sept. 3

• Sacred Heart Catholic Church Picnic, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South, Hallettsville, Dinner plates, Bingo, Live Music, Live Auction, Games and Rides.

• Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church Picnic, Shiner KC Hall, 102 S. Ave. G, Shiner, Dinner plates, Bingo, Live Music, Live Auction, Games and Rides.

• South Texas Tour Team Roping, Lavaca Expo Center,449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville, Live Rodeo Action, 361-798-1600

Monday, Sept. 4

Labor Day Holiday

Thursday, Sept. 7

Ducks Unlimited Banquet, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South, Hallettsville.

Saturday, Sept. 9

Hallettsville Playday Association, Lavaca Expo Center, 449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville, Youth Rodeo

Saturday, Sept. 16

• Sacred Heart Catholic School Homecoming, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South, Hallettsville.

• Shiner Downtown Market Days, loaded with vendors, with plenty of good food and cold drinks, not to mention a good band or three.

Yoakum Hometown Street Dance

Sunday, Sept. 17

• Moulton St. Joseph’s Catholic Church Picnic, St. Joseph’s Social Center Grounds, Fried Chicken Dinner, Live Music, Live Auction, Snacks, Hamburgers, Games for the Kids, and Cold Beverages.

• South Texas Tour Team Roping, Lavaca Expo Center,449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville, Live Rodeo Action, 361-798-1600

Sunday, Sept. 24

• St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Picnic, Koerth, meet up with old friends or make all new ones when the folks around Koerth gather for their church picnic

• South Texas Tour Team Roping, Lavaca Expo Center, 449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville, Live Rodeo Action, 361-798-1600

Monday, Sept. 25

Hallettsville KCs Pork Barbecue Plates to Go, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South, Hallettsville.

Friday to Saturday, Sept. 29-30

Hallettsville Chamber of Commerce’s 28th Kolache Fest, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville, 42 Domino Tournament, Arts & Craft Booth, Food Booths, Live Music, Kolache Eating Contest, Barbecue Cookoff, Car Show, Carnival, 5K Run, Parade & More.

Friday to Sunday, Sept 29 to Oct. 1 Come & Take It, Gonzales Street Festival, Parade, Carnival and Daily Entertainment and events with Nighttime Dances and Concerts.

OCTOBER

Sunday, Oct. 1

• Holy Rosary Catholic Church Picnic, Hostyn

• St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church Festival, Luling

• South Texas Tour Team Roping, Lavaca Expo Center, 449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville, Live Rodeo Action, 361-798-1600

Wednesday, Oct. 4 National Night Out Events with police departments in Moulton, Shiner, Yoakum and Hallettsville.

Friday to Sunday, Oct. 6-8 Cuero Turkeyfest, Come hang with Ruby Begonia in Cuero, with a whole weekend lineup of activities.

Saturday, Oct. 7

• Texas Barnstormers Museum’s Ninth Annual Fly-In, Hallettsville Municipal Airport, 3 miles south of Hallettsville on U.S.77, Hangar 34R, Call or text , 361-772-6434. And next in a long line of spectacular prizes (who can forget last year’s 1965 Mustang convertible?) the Old Dogs are giving away a 1941 65 hp Piper J-3 Cub. Get your tickets today, and good luck!

Sunday, Oct. 8

• Hallettsville 4-H Club Barbecue Plates to Go, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

• South Texas Tour Team Roping, Lavaca Expo Center, 449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville, Live Rodeo Action, 361-798-1600

Monday, Oct. 9

Columbus Day Holiday

Friday to Saturday, Oct. 13-14

Founders Invitational Rodeo, Lavaca Expo Center, 449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville, Live Rodeo Action, 361798-1600

Saturday, Oct. 14

• Alton C. Allen Historical Conference,

The Kocian Building in Hallettsville. Yoakum Catholic School Reunion, Students and Graduates of St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Yoakum encourage to swing by and take part in the festivities.

• M+14 Barbecue Cookoff, Johnny Meisetschleager Memorial Scholarship Barbecue Cookoff, held at Moulton City Park on second Saturday of October. Live Music, silent auction, corn hole tournament.

• Night in Old Luling, a good old fashion sock hop and good times street festival.

Sunday Oct. 15

Appelt’s Hill Gun Club’s King’s Feast, a target shooting competition with traditions that date back to the 1800s.

Monday, Oct. 16

Hallettsville Brahma Booster Club Plates to Go, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

Saturday, Oct. 21

• Shiner Downtown Market Days, loaded with vendors out, with plenty of good food and cold drinks, not to mention a good band or three.

• Hope Market Days, loaded with vendors out, with plenty of good food and cold drinks.

• Ezzell Fall Festival, the Ezzell School’s main annual fundraiser. Falling Leaves Gala, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

• Hallettsville Playday, Lavaca Expo Center, 449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville, Youth Rodeo Action, 361798-1600

Monday, Oct. 23

• FFA Parent Booster Club Barbecue Plates To Go Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

Saturday, Oct. 28

Pivo & Kolaches, come take part in the annual point-5 K Fun Run that combines two of the best parts of being Czech, Pivo (Beer) & Kolache (Mmmm), held at Shiner’s Green Dickson Park.

Sunday, Oct. 29

• Halloween on the Square in Hal-

lettsville, community trick or treating in a safe, open setting on the square. Trunk or Treat Event in Moulton, a community trick or treating event, usually with candy for the kids, and, usually, a few treats for big kids, too (must be 21 to participate in the latter).

• Downtown Trick or Treating, Yoakum kids can head out to their favorite stores downtown and stock up on all sorts of treats and goodies from local merchants.

• South Texas Tour Team Roping, Lavaca Expo Center, 449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville, Live Rodeo Action, 361-798-1600.

Monday, Oct. 30

Stag Supper, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

Tuesday, Oct. 31

Halloween (actual)

NOVEMBER

Sunday, Nov. 5

Daylight Saving Time Ends

Praha Veterans Day Service, usually the first Sunday in November at the historic St. Mary’s Catholic Church and her historic cemetery behind the church.

Monday, Nov. 6

Hallettsville High School Band Boosters Plates to Go, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

Tuesday, Nov. 7 Election Day

Thursday, Nov. 9 Bingo Bags & Badges, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

Friday, Nov. 10

• Vysehrad ISD’s Veteran’s Day Program—School Gymnasium or, weather permitting, outside. Classes perform various skits, Student Patriotism Awards given out, guest speakers, veterans honored and meal.

Moulton Student Council’s Veteran’s Day Program—Moulton High School Gym. School band performs, Student Patriotism Awards given out, guest speakers, veterans honored and meal.

• Shiner Public School Veteran’s Day Program—Shiner High School Gym, 510 County Road 348 in Shiner. School Band Performs, Student Patriotism Awards given, Veterans Honored. Call (361) 594-3131.

• Shiner Catholic Schools Veterans Day Program—St. Paul Gym, Student Patriotism Awards given, Winning Essay Read, Veterans Honored, Featured Speaker.

Friday to Saturday, Nov. 10-11

Warrior Weekend Hunt at Williams Ranch

Saturday, Nov. 11

Veterans Day

Hallettsville Playday, Lavaca Expo Center, 449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville, Youth Rodeo Action, 361798-1600.

Sunday, Nov. 12

South Texas Tour Team Roping, La-

vaca Expo Center, 449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville, Live Rodeo Action, 361-798-1600.

Monday, Nov. 13

Rotary Club Gumbo Plates to Go, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

Tuesday to Saturday, Nov. 14-18

Reveille Retreat at the TR Ranch near Moravia, a songwriter’s retreat made especially for veterans.

Thursday, Nov. 16

Yoakum Chamber’s Sip & Shop—Taking place 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. all around Yoakum, 20-plus local Retailers, Specialty Vendors, Wine Tastings & More. Don’t miss this shopping extravaganza!

Friday to Saturday, Nov. 17-18

Youth Rodeo Association, Lavaca Expo Center, 449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville, Live Junior Rodeo Action, 361-798-1600.

Saturday, Nov. 18

• Hallettsville Market Days, Hallettsville

KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

• Shiner Downtown Market Days, along 7th Street in Shiner, vendors, live music and plenty of eats and drinks.

• Shiner Beer Run—Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner. 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Marathon Races held through Shiner with After Party at the Brewery. Visit www.shinerbeerrun.com for more.

Thursday, Nov. 23

Thanksgiving

Saturday, Nov. 25

Festival of Lights—The Courthouse Square in Downtown Hallettsville. Hundreds gather in beautiful downtown for Lavaca County’s kickoff to Christmas season. Vendor booths, a parade and Yuletide carols to put everyone in the Christmas spirit as they light the courthouse lights that can be seen for miles.

DECEMBER

Saturday, Dec. 2

• Hallettsville Playday Association

— Youth rodeo at its finest. Lavaca Expo Center, 449 County Road 200 in

Hallettsville. Call (361) 798-1600 for more.

• Yoakum’s Christmas on the Grand— Grab your friends and family and make plans to attend Yoakum’s Annual Christmas on Grand Celebration! This annual event is held the first weekend in December in Downtown Yoakum and loaded with family friendly events!

Sunday, Dec. 3

• Shiner Chamber’s Christmas at the Brewery — Santa Arrives to Take Everyone’s Wish Orders, Vendors and Food Booth. Snow.

• South Texas Tour Team Roping— Live Rodeo Action, Lavaca Expo Center, 449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville. Call (361) 798-1600 for more Lion’s Club Arts & Crafts Show—Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

Saturday, Dec. 9

Moulton Chamber’s Mingle on Main/ Wine Walk & Street Dance — Ring in the holidays with Downtown Moulton at their annual Christmastime Wine

Walk along Main Street. Vendors, food booths, a petting zoo, rides and bouncy houses for the kids Plus, Santa comes to town! For you big kids, there’s wine sampling, a street dance and watch downtown come alive in her sparkling Christmastime finest. Kicks off at 10 a.m. downtown Main Street in Moulton

Saturday, Dec. 16

• Shiner Downtown Market Days — Along downtown Shiner’s Seventh Street, Vendor Booths, Food Trucks, Kid’s Games and Activities, Live Music.

Monday, Dec. 25

Christmas

Sunday, Dec. 31

Blue Denim Play New Year’s Eve at Sweet Home Community Center

JANUARY

Monday, Jan. 1, 2024

New Year’s Day

Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024

• Hallettsville Playday Association— Lavaca Expo Center, 449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville, Live Junior Rodeo Action. Call (361) 798-1600 for more.

• Hallet Oak Gala—Benefit for the local art gallery.

Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024

Vysehrad ISD Annual Stew Dinner

Fundraiser—St. Mary’s Parish Hall, 1648 FM 340 near Hallettsville, Stew Plates To-Go or By-the-Pound, St. Mary’s Famous Picnic Recipe, Raffle Prizes

Friday to Saturday, Jan. 12-13, 2024

Yoakum Junior Livestock Show, at rodeo grounds inside the city park near softball fields in Yoakum.

Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024

Vysehrad ISD Annual Stew Dinner Fundraiser—St. Mary’s Parish Hall, 1648 FM 340 near Hallettsville, Stew Plates To-Go or By-the-Pound, St.

Mary’s Famous Picnic Recipe, Raffle Prizes

Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024

Shiner Downtown Market Days— Along downtown Shiner’s Seventh Street, Vendor Booths, Food Trucks, Kid’s Games and Activities, Live Music.

Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024

Moulton Junior Livestock Show— Moulton ISD Agriculture Building/ Moulton American Legion Hall, students compete in cattle, swine, lamb and poultry shows. Judging Saturday at the Ag Building/Buyers Banquet Sunday at the Hall.

Friday to Sunday, Jan. 19-21, 2024

Hallettsville Junior Livestock Show— Lavaca Expo Center, 449 County Road 200 in Hallettsville, hundreds turn out to see who claims Hallettsville’s top steer, swine, lamb, goat and poultry divisions. Premium auction sales.

Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024

Hallettsville Chamber Banquet—Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville. Who will win Top Citizen honors? Always a good time at the Hallettsville Chamber of Commerce Banquet.

Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024

Yoakum Area Chamber Banquet— Yoakum Community Center, 105 Huck St. in Yoakum, Social begins at 5:30 p.m. See who wins Yoakum’s Top Citizen Awards

Friday, Jan. 26 2024

Shiner VFD Oyster Supper

Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024

Wild Game Supper—Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville

Rise Up for Life Lavaca County—the fight for life continues.

February

Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024

• Big Buck Contest in Shiner—Sponsored by the Shiner Area Business Men’s Club and held in the Shiner KC Hall.

• Sweet Home ISD Chili Supper— Sweet Home School’s major fundraiser each year.

Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024

Valentine’s Day Dance—Traditionally, Erik Konvicka and his family have always made a point of keeping the hall open for a public dance on the of Valentine’s Day

Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024

• Hallettsville Market Days, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

• Shiner Downtown Market Days, along 7th Street in Shiner, vendors, live music and plenty of eats and drinks.

MARCH

Friday to Sunday, March 1-3, 2024

Texas State 42 Tournament Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

Sunday, March 3, 2024

• Moulton Chamber Banquet, Moulton American Legion Hall in Moulton. Friday to Sunday, March 22-24, 2024

Hallettsville Polka Fest, Hallettsville

KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

• Shiner’s Johnny Hybner Memorial Barbecue Cookoff, Spoetzl Brewery, Shiner.

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Easter Sunday

Moulton’s Easter Picnic, St. Joseph’s Social Center in Moulton.

April

Friday to Saturday, April 13-14, 2024

Shiner VFD Cookoff & Car Show, Green Dickson Park in Shiner.

Friday to Sunday, April 26-28, 2024

Fiddlers Frolics, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South in Hallettsville.

May

Sunday, May 12, 2024

Mother’s Day

Friday to Saturday, May 17-18, 2024

Sweet Home VFD’s Fire Fest Cookoff and Car Show

Sunday, May 26, 2024

• Sacred Heart Catholic Church Picnic, Hallettsville KC Hall, 321 U.S. 77 South, Hallettsville, Dinner plates, Bingo, Live Music, Live Auction, Games and Rides.

• Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church Picnic, Shiner KC Hall, 102 S. Ave. G, Shiner, Dinner plates, Bingo, Live Music, Live Auction, Games and Rides.

Monday, May 27, 2024

Memorial Day Memorial Day Observances held at Moulton’s City Cemetery, Yoakum’s Fire Department and Shiner’s Green Dickson Park.

June

First weekend in June

Yoakum Tom-Tom Festival

Second Sunday in June St. Mary’s Catholic Church Picnic near Hallettsville

Sunday, June 16, 2024

Father’s Day

Fourth Weekend in June Luling Watermelon Thump in Luling

July

Fourth of July Weekend

Half Moon Holidays in Shiner

Third Sunday in July

Accension Catholic Church Picnic in Moravia

Last Full Weekend July Moulton Jamboree

Schools: There’s a lot to choose from in Lavaca County

e GOP Leadership in Austin has made much political hay this session over what rights Texans should have when it comes to the education of our children.

What that will ultimately mean to somebody, someplace in our great state still has more than its fair share of kinks that need to be worked out.

ankfully, choice is something our forefathers here in Lavaca County worked hard to ensure would always be available to the people who called this place their home.

Even in those earliest days, settlers began building schools. ey were second only to churches, in terms of communal places.

Lavaca County residents have always enjoyed more than a few options. e following o ers just a glimpse at those numbers:

HALLETTSVILLE SCHOOLS

HALLETTSVILLE ISD

www.hisdbrahmas.org

Hallettsville High School (9-12)

200 N. Ridge St., Hallettsville 361-798-2242

Hallettsville Junior High School (5-8)

410 S. Russell St., Hallettsville 361-798-2242

Hallettsville Elementary School (PK-4)

308 N. Ridge St., Hallettsville 361-798-2242

SACRED HEART CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

www.shschool.org

Sacred Heart High School (9-12)

Dual Credit, AP & Honors

Sacred Heart Junior High School (6-8)

Elementary School (PK3-5)

In addition to all the schools listed below—54 in all, and we’ve likely missed a couple preschools, at least—Lavaca County also has a very active group of homeschoolers, shown here during one of their get-togethers at the Yoakum library. That brings the county’s total school groups to 55. Our list only counted those facilities officially licensed by the State of Texas in late June 2023.

Moulton High School/Junior High (7-12)

SHINER CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

313 S. Texana St., Hallettsville Founded in 1882 (361) 798-4251

VICTORIA COLLEGE

www.victoriacollege.edu

Zelda L. Allen School of Nursing

1410 N. Texana St., Hallettsville

Affiliated with Victoria College 1982, Established 1948 (361) 798-2289

Pre-schools: 11

MOULTON SCHOOLS

MOULTON ISD

www.moultonisd.net

502 N. Pecan St., Moulton Texas Historic Landmark Building, Founded in 1901 361-596-4691

Moulton Elementary School (PK-5)

202 W. Bobkat Drive, Moulton 361-596-4605

Pre-schools: 4

SHINER SCHOOLS

SHINER ISD

Shiner Junior High/Shiner High School (6-12)

Shiner Elementary School (PK-5)

510 CR 348, Shiner 361-594-3131

www.shinercatholicschool.org

St. Paul High School (9-12)

Weekly masses at Sts. Cyril & Methodius Catholic Church

Shiner-St. Paul Football games Played at Comanche Stadium

510 County Road 348, Shiner

St. Paul Junior High School (6-8)

Home to Janak Music Center, 2012

St. Ludmilla Elementary School (PK-5)

424 St. Ludmila St., Shiner

Founded in 1896

361-594-3843

Pre-schools: 5

YOAKUM SCHOOLS

S www.yoakumisd.net

a u i S l 9- 2

Home of the Fighting Bulldogs since 1937

104 Poth St., Yoakum 361-2 3-3442

a u Juni r i -8

103 McKinnon St., Yoakum 361-293-3111

a u nt r diat S l 3208 Aubrey St., Yoakum 361-293-3001

a u ri ary S l -2

800 W. Grand Ave., Yoakum 361-293-2011

a u ri ary nn412 Simpson St., Yoakum 361-293-3312

itt- a a a S ial du ati n rati

www.dlsec.org

402 Hubbard St., Yoakum 361-2 3-2854

S J S S -8

stjcatholicschool.com (361) 2 3- 000

310 Orth, Yoakum 361-293-9000

S (K- , 8-12)

www.providencechristianacademy.org

2454 County Road 31 , Yoakum

361-2 3-5820

Pre-schools

RURAL C OOL D TR CT S

www.ezzellisd.org

ll i S l 9- 2

ll l ntary -8

Lavaca County’s First Four-Day School

Week

Founded in 1850 Present Site Since 1883

20500 FM 531, Hallettsville

361- 8-4448

S S -8

www.sweethomeisd.org

508 FM 531, Sweet Home (361) 2 3-3221

S S -8

www.vysehrad.k12.tx.us

5 5 County Road 182, Hallettsville

Founded in 188

361- 8-4118

Lavaca County ultural Arts rail C

Family-Friendly Tourism

Make

Moulton

Orrin L. Winters Cabin

Two-room cabin built circa 1853. Moulton Community Park

102 Veterans Drive, Moulton, TX 361-596-4621 www.cityofmoulton.com

“Camp of the Texas Army”

Historical Marker

March 15,1836

Army camp site under the command of General Sam Houston, retreating from Gonzales to Brazos River

American Legion Hall Post 392 500 N. Lavaca, Moulton, TX 361-596-4621 www.cityofmoulton.com

Shiner

Edwin Wolters Memorial Museum

306 S. Ave I, Shiner, TX

Open: Wed.,Thu., Fri.: 8 AM - 5 PM

(Closed from Noon - 1 PM)

Sat.: Noon - 4 PM

361-594-3774

www.woltersmuseum.org

Spoetzl Brewery Gift Shop

603 E. Brewery St., Shiner, TX

Gift Shop Hours:

Mon. thru Sat: 10 AM - 6 PM

Sunday: Noon - 6 PM

Check calendar for schedule and close dates for holidays.

Daily tours are listed on Facebook: Spoetzl Brewery, Home of Shiner Beers 361-594-3383

www.shiner.com

H 3 H 4

Hallettsville

Hallet Oak Gallery

Historic Kahn & Stanzel Bldg. (1890)

J. Riely Gordon, Architect

115 N. Main St., Hallettsville, TX

Open: Mon. thru Fri.: Noon - 2 PM

Sat.: 11 AM - 3 PM

361-217-7030,

www.halletoakgallery.com

Lavaca Historical Museum

1205 N. Texana Hallettsville, TX 77964

Sunday & Monday - Closed

Wed. & Thu.: 10 AM - 4 PM

Fri.: Noon - 4 PM

361-798-4113

www.lavacahistoricalmuseum.org

Yoakum

Yoakum Heritage Museum

312 Simpson St., Yoakum, TX

Open: Sun, Tues, Thu.: 1 PM - 4 PM

Fri.: 10 AM - 4 PM

361-293-7022

www.yoakumareachamber.com

Chisholm Trail Monument and Park W. Gonzales and Highway 77A

Yoakum, TX 361-293-6321 www.cityofyoakum.org

Lavaca County Cultural Arts Trail

Supported by Hallet Oak Foundation, Texas Historical Society, Dr. Betty J. Edwards, City of Moulton, City of Shiner, City of Hallettsville, and City of Yoakum.

EOR E LACE

Moulton’s eorge Kalisek has always had a bent for the creative side. That’s hardly the stu of secrets in his hometown.

eorge made his living painting signs for right at five decades now, and there’s hardly an occasion that the various pieces of his lawn art can’t help ring in. Why he’s even been known to craft entire villages of characters, given half the notion.

In recent years, Kalisek expanded his wheelhouse to take on several other special projects like recreating those ornate, multi-tiered high altars and other such adornments that once stood commonplace at so many of our churches and other such places of honor and uiet re ection.

et it was the culmination of all those skillsets that inspired eorge’s

most recent of projects, something he says he continues to tinker with, o and on, whenever inspiration strikes or, for that matter, he finds the time between the many other things he’s always working on.

Friday, uly 28, eorge aims to share the results of those labors with the people of Lavaca County. Call it an exhibition that’s open to anyone who wants to swing by.

ust know that this ain’t some hoity-toity art show where everybody stands around, gazing at inkblots and trying out pompous commentaries on color usage, linear expression and use of light. If that’s what you’re into, you’re barking up the wrong tree.

But if you wouldn’t mind meeting up with a few good people those you hadn’t seen in a while, as well

as those you might’ve had supper with just the night before last hearing some good tunes (Shiner’s Second Wind has been hired for the evening) and enjoying a few spins on the dance oor or just soaking up some shade under those massive pecans out front (or later, basking in the starlight) all while munching on good grub and sipping down some nice cold drinks, then eorge’s might be just for you.

And if, at some point, you should wander o and find yourself standing there, ogling at one of eorge’s many fine handiworks scattered about, we’re pretty sure ol’ eorge would be plum tickled by that, too.

I’m no cabinet maker, eorge said whenever I began studying the elements of any of his latest pieces a

little too closely. “You start looking at it like that and I’m done.”

Yet interestingly, nearly every piece he showed us was hardly done at all, to hear him tell it. Rather, they were works in progress, he said, because no matter how far along or nished they may appear, there were scarcely any he hadn’t dreamt up a way—quite literally, sometimes—of how he might improve upon them even more.

Out under the trees recently, George described the slow evolution of what he does, all the way from tracing a few letters on a board to crafting his very own event venues and planning communitywide shindigs.

Sign painters like him have been around for almost as long as people have built things. Even before literacy was commonplace, there wasn’t a man born who didn’t want to leave his mark on the world, and

folks like George helped them do it. Still, as George put it, “If all I did was strictly just signs every day, I probably would’ve quit a long time ago.”

Because while stenciling words on boards might keep the lights on, George couldn’t help but think how tedious and repetitious the work got. Something in his more creative self simply screamed for more. en one day, it just happened. Inspiration struck him like a low hanging two-by-four. Right between the eyes.

It was so many years ago now, George said he’d be lying if he had to name the thing that set it o . It might’ve been how the light fell on some scrap cutout he had lying about, or maybe it was the shape of a cloud he’d seen out his window. It could’ve been something he’d seen in that day’s mail, or something he heard on his radio. Perhaps he

realized there were certain colors of paint he kept stocked, that under the current business model, he’d likely never use again.

Whatever it was, George soon found himself humped over a table well into that night, sketching out designs to one of the rst yard art pieces he ever put together, a full Nativity set.

Because you couldn’t very well have a baby Jesus in a manger without Mary and Joseph looking on adoringly from somewhere nearby. Or the donkey they rode in on, for that matter. And maybe a sheep or three. And a shepherd to tend all those sheep. And some chickens because everybody likes eggs, right? And wise men. With gifts, and maybe a camel or two. And a milk cow with a baby calf because they can’t make milk otherwise. A pig or two. And a big shiny star. With angels singing. And…

One after another, he’d grab a blank of wood, sketch something out and then reach for another. Days went by like that. He’d tend to his paying jobs, then when the workday work was done, put in quite nearly another one each night, working on those rst art pieces of his.

It wasn’t until he’d nearly nished it all that anyone else was ever the wiser. By then, he was busy sketching Santa Clauses and armies of toy-making elves, the Grinch and that saint of a pup he had, Charlie Brown and that miserable little tree of his. e Easter bunny. Jack-o-lanterns…

Because something else George noticed, the more he exercised his creative muscles, the more he found to draw. Everywhere he’d look, practically, inspired something new. By then, too, he’d graduated to sketchbooks, not only because the other way was costing a small fortune in sign blanks but because sketchbooks were also much easier to carry around.

But mostly, George said, “I found that if I waited too long to get it down, I’d forget about it and it might be lost. Possibly forever.”

So, he kept a sketchpad always nearby, even waking from a dead sleep sometimes to sketch something he’d seen in a dream. He soon lled page after page, book after book.

It wasn’t until he used that Nativity set as Christmas décor one year outside his Moulton shop and someone stopped by, telling him to name his price because he’d buy it o him, right then and there— which George did, naming some outlandish gure, he thought then, only to watch as the man shelled out his money, loaded it up and drove o —that George began to suspect he might be onto something.

Soon, George began to focus

more and more on his yard art, even making plans to attend various festivals to gain exposure and make a few sales. Variety would be key to this new business plan, he was certain, so he began churning out the designs he had tucked away in his sketchbooks. He’d still take on sign jobs, too, but not as many as before. He was set to knock their socks o in the yard art world. It was just a matter of time.

In his newfound push to build a healthy stock of supplies, he was soon out of room, back home at his shop, so he expanded his place to house it all, he even bought the property next to his. Sure, it had a big house on it, but surely, he could do something with that place at some point, too, right? at he bought it all doing his yard art, all while seeing new places and meeting new people, even better.

But they also had their drawbacks. For starters, it was hard work, lugging everything in and out to set it up and haul it o again. Plus, they were simple paint on wood, and if you spent as much time hauling them about in a trailer as he did, you’d learn one sure fact fast: ose painted signs didn’t travel particularly well.

No matter how careful he was, loading them in and out, they were forever turning up with scratches, dings or chips, some from simply rubbing up against one another on the ride over. You could touch them up, once or twice maybe, but after that, it was a gamble. You’d wind up either scrapping it altogether or having to practically give it away.

Not only that, but George soon came to another stark realization about people: Predicting them was hard. Real hard, in fact. One place might’ve been just plum crazy for, let’s say, yard gnomes just last year, you ll a trailer with a whole army of the little critters a year from now, and everybody will have moved on to—who knows what?—Smurfs, kittens, aardvarks, Care Bears, chile peppers on a stick… e possibilities were almost endless.

Plus, no matter how impressive the sales might’ve been on a Santa on tractor last November, or how well those pumpkins did the month before, you’re going to have a hard time moving either one when the wild owers are in bloom. So, as technologies improved and he grew weary of chasing those shows, he embraced websites and gured it

was time to bring that road show to a close.

“I have people ask me still, why don’t you go set up someplace like Round Top or Traders Village or something? What I’ve told them all along is, I’d much rather they come to me. Besides, there’s a lot worse things a town could be known for besides the place you go to for some good art,” he said. • • •

Just two more steps stood between George the art painting sign maker becoming George the host of his own event on July 28, and they may seem about as unrelated as one could possibly get, especially for a smalltown sign man. Still, both played equally important parts to making it all possible. And since they both happened at about the same time in his life, that’s how we intend to deal with them here.

e rst centered around a church altar, believe it or not, and

it came at the request of the Rev. Gabriel Maison in Moulton, just as George was clearing out the bulk of his once teeming stocks of his yard art. e other part involved making an entire house disappear.

As to the altar, Father Gabriel had seen pictures of the high altar that once stood inside the Moulton church years ago. Like many places, however, theirs got removed as part of the sweeping changes that took place within the church with what they called Vatican II, back in the mid-1960s.

Father Gabriel wanted to know if he could build him one just like it. Now, George was no stranger to jobs for the church. In fact, he’d already taken on several in recent years, in places like Cuero and Praha, for instance. But with those, he’d always had a lot more than simply some old photos to work with. Not one to shirk a challenge, however, especially for the church, he dove

right in.

“ e bad part was that no one picture showed us what it looked like entirely,” George said. “ e pictures each had just parts of it, which was ne for those sections, but still nothing showed it all. And considering how di erent the known parts were from one another, knowing what the rest looked like became a mission, like a detective’s work almost, rst you’d nd one piece, then another and so on, as you slowly worked it out section by section. Still, when they called me up saying that somebody had the original out in their pasture, I was thrilled.”

Just a few measurements, and he’d have it whipped in no time, he thought. Until, that is, he saw it.

“It was bad,” he said. “Real bad. We actually needed a shovel for parts of it. We scooped up the parts, dirt and all, and brought it all back here in buckets that I sifted through to nd as many of the parts as I

could. en, using a magnifying glass to match it all up as best I could, I literally pieced it back to together, like a jigsaw puzzle, just to gure out what that nal parts looked like.”

It was that precise sort of diligence and attention to detail that fueled the coming renovations he had in mind at his shop, too. You see, with all that inventory now sold and gone, he now had this big empty space that he really wanted to do something with, and the church work he’d done inspired several ideas. Which is why, once he’d gotten far enough along, he invited his fellow brothers with local Knights of Columbus council there in Moulton to come check it out for one of their events. at very same night, he said, the place that up to then had simply been known as George’s Hall, became the o cial meeting place of the local council.

Having seen both during the tour he gave us for this story, I’m not sure which likely won them over more—the o cer’s conference room with the corner trophy case and a fantastic KC-logo table top that George built or the Old West Saloon he crafted just across the hall.

Now it was on to the outside, and there he’d rst have to make a house disappear.

It turns out, his sister wound up moving in, not long after he bought it, which George rather liked, especially while he was away. ere was always someone nearby to keep an eye on things. It was originally going to be just a few months stay for her, but as will sometimes happen, it wound up turning into a few years. When she moved away, about the time that COVID also came to stay a spell, George decided that his best option would likely be to just sell the place to anyone who would move it away from where it sat these many years.

When that happened just a couple months later, leaving a big bare spot where once a house had been, it worked to motivate George greatly into doing something with the outside of his place. He’d already been working on his outdoor cook shed and the nearby kitchen, bar, ticket counter and Tiki shack. All he needed now was a dance oor unlike any most had ever seen.

And the spot where that old house had been, was just about perfect. A few loads of concrete later, and George was pretty sure he’d accomplish the rest, too, for he had his own octagonal concrete dance oor, tucked away nicely there beneath the trees and surrounded by wrought iron with his very own dragon watching down from above—trust us, it’s there, and you’ll smile when you see it—but it’s just one of many must-sees that await when you come to visit on July 28.

You see, George isn’t unlike a lot of people you’ll run into during your travels around Lavaca County, whose unique talents and wellplayed risks, doing something he liked that he was good at, brought him some good fortune. And rather

than stow it away for some rainy day that never arrives until you’re far too gray to go play in the puddles, he’d much rather share his good fortune with a few good friends.

It’s the same spirit you nd at the heart of every church picnic you’ll attend, the same spirit behind every town festival. It lies behind every college scholarship granted, and every town improvement ventured. And the pride that goes with knowing a thing is your own, leaving something better than you found it and realizing that there just might be plenty of whatever George has, spinning around inside you, too.

Who knows, he may even nish the place one of these days. Rather doubt it, though, because what fun would that be?

“I’ll probably nish it one day,” he said. “About the same time I no longer need the air to breathe, probably. Until then, I’d much rather wonder about things—like I wonder what it would look like if I—you know, whatever—because the longer we all keep that wonder about us, the happier we all are in the long run.”

And who could argue with that?

From page 12 the rst shot ever got red, from anyplace, the United States twice o ered to buy Texas from the Mexican government for a whopping $1 million—that would be about $30.4 million today, mind you—once from President John Quincy Adams in 1827 and then again from President Andrew Jackson in 1829.

Both o ers were refused.

e ghting was practically inevitable. After the Alamo fell on March 6, 1836, Sam Houston and his band of mostly volunteers who had been building forces at their Gonzales encampment, pulled back into Lavaca County with Santa Anna and about 1,000 Mexican dragoons hot on their heels.

What followed is what historians would one day call “the Runaway Scrape.” It marked a steady weekslong retreat, moving ever northward and eastward across Texas, all during one of the wettest springs on record, meaning every river and creek was out of its banks. Every step taken, slogged with mud.

Legend has it that the Mexican army lost an entire canon while crossing the Lavaca River, and that it remains to this very day, still mudbound, someplace along the northernmost reaches of the county. Of course, it was one of many in Santa Anna’s army, so they pressed on.

Meanwhile, as Houston’s men fell farther and farther back across Texas, they warned settlers of the advancing Mexican army, urging them to also take ight. It resulted in Houston building his numbers, but to what ends was unclear. Sure, he might pick up a useful ghter or two, but in the process, he also gained a ragtag entourage of frightened women, children, and the elderly, who did little more than slow them down. What they did accomplish, however, was safely burning down whatever got left behind so Santa Anna and his forces had no way to replenish or

Petersburg Courthouse

recuperate.

Finally, on April 21, 1836, surrounded by the San Jacinto River and the Bu alo Bayou, near present day La Porte and Pasadena, Houston gazed out at what totaled 1,500 encamped Mexican forces. Houston commanded just 783 men, almost none of whom were regular army.

ey were volunteers, farmers mostly. Still, Houston gave his signal, and the attack was on, catching the Mexican Army quite o guard. e battle ended in just 18 minutes. e killing would continue for hours afterward.

Texas won her independence in what’s been called one of the greatest tactical military feats ever. e rest, as they say, is history, and it all started right here.

COUNTY SEAT

So it came to pass that in the spring of 1846, Lavaca County was formed with just 140 taxpayers on its roles. e vote took place in Peters-

burg, which was dubbed the county seat. Still, that never sat well with the folks in nearby Hallettsville, hardly a thriving metropolis but far larger than Petersburg ever hoped to be.

Still, the two competed ercely for the county seat. After a pair of contentious elections, Hallettsville eventually won out.

Not at the ballot box, mind you. No, Hallettsville won that war at gunpoint.

Some of its residents came by dark of night to seize all the county’s records from neighboring Petersburg.

was never any record of a reprisal over the pirated records, so those in Hallettsville claimed what they said was rightfully theirs in the rst place and became the new seat of local government.

Something surely would have been written on a reprisal, had one existed. Hallettsville was once home to 13 di erent newspapers, after all.

ere

Undated and uncredited photograph of The Old Tavern Stand, Townsend Inn, Nelson Academy, and Petersburg courthouse (one building) in Lavaca County, Texas. Petersburg, Texas, the first seat of Lavaca County when the county was organized in August 1846, was located six miles southeast of Hallettsville. The official story is that Hallettsville was made the county seat after an 1852 election.

Still, it’s entirely plausible that all those reporters might’ve missed the story, too. Hallettsville, you see, also had 13 bars, “one for each editor,” or so the story goes. Who knows?

At any rate, Hallettsville remains the county seat today, and Petersburg is no more.

SURGING POPULATION

e 1850s saw a large surge in the county’s population as new settlers swooped in from the Old South looking to cash in on the free land that they heard about back home.

e newcomers brought with them hundreds of slaves and an addiction to King Cotton that spread like a wild re.

Soon, almost half the county’s population owned slaves. Some say it was even home to the state’s single largest slaveholder.

When the Civil War came, more than 95% of the county’s citizens backed secession, and many of the county’s men left to serve the Confederacy with Terry’s Texas Rangers and Whit eld’s Brigade. Plenty more also took part in the Battle of Galveston.

Before the ghting had ended, however, many in Lavaca County openly denounced the Confederacy, calling it “a poor man’s war for a rich man’s n_______,” referring to the fact that many a poor man’s son had been grabbed up to ght and die or come home maimed, all for something that many who lived here could never a ord in the place: slaves.

at said, when the South nally ceded the ght in 1865, the abolition of slavery played havoc on the county’s cotton-based economy, leaving many a former cotton grower turning his attention to a new line of work, one that focused on getting all those cattle that did so well down here up to rail lines in the distant north where the demand for beef was high and were the paydays.

Houston Hustlers

Date: April 26, 1907/Creator: Fey & Braunig

ey called it a cattle drive, and it would work to not only reshape Lavaca County but the entirety of the American Southwest.

CATTLE DRIVE

A little-known fact about Lavaca County is that the Old Spanish Trail ran straight through the heart of it, providing most early settlers the closest thing to a highway that most would ever know.

at trail would soon be teeming with cattle which had all but run wild since the Civil War started, with no markets to speak of across most of the South. Besides, while you might do well, getting $4 a head at local cattle markets, word was if you made it as far north Abilene, Kansas, those very same cows would fetch as much as $40 a head, possibly even more.

Of course, getting there was no picnic. First, you had to round up as many cows as you could gather,

which was plenty by itself, especially with cattle that had gone mostly feral after all that time. It didn’t help in the least that most were longhorn cattle they were after, and one wrong move could turn a fellow into a shish kabob.

Just rounding them up could take days and sometimes weeks, through some of the most inhospitable terrain imaginable, where everything in your path—person, plant or wild animal—existed for one purpose: To make whatever passed them by bleed.

And that was just the start. Because no sooner did you have all these wild-eyed beasts gathered into one big bunch, it was time to hit the trail with the herd. Times were tough all around, and most had heard the same word as you about the possible payo s up in Kansas.

Plenty would be more than happily relieve you of your burden, now

Photograph of the Houston Hustlers as they came through Hallettsville, Texas. According to an accompanying article, “Seven wagons chained together and drawn by eight yoke of oxen conveyed the Houston party from the depot to the barbecue grounds.” The wagons are in front of several buildings on the west side of the Courthouse Square. According to another accompanying article, you can see the Lavaca Bank, the white building in the center background, partially visible. There are other people in the street watching, including a band. Written at the bottom right of the photograph is “Houston Hustlers at Hallettsville Texas April 26, 1907.

that hard part of rounding them up was done.

Plus, if even one of those cows got spooked, the resulting stampede could prove fatal to entire communities. You sure didn’t want that happening in the place you called home.

e best option available was to keep the herd moving, pushing them ever northward.

Ever vigilant for approaching bandits of every feather—cattle thieves, stray storms, and of course, the actual feather-clad kind, like the Comanche and Apache, who would attack a dust weary crowd like theirs just to saw their scalps o and swipe their horses.

It was a kind of game for the natives, one that made most white men’s blood turn to ice in their veins. Of course, there were those, too, who seemed born without fear, who could just stare such nightmares down until they turned tail and ed. Folks like those rallied the troops

to make such rides north. For more than 700 miles. Or three times that far, whichever contract they landed rst.

Just think: at’s an awful lot of dust to eat, especially on hot days like today.

But so it was for folks like George Washington West, who led some of the very rst cattle drives up the country, in 1867, to the Kansas railhead.

And it all started here in Lavaca County, in a little place known as Sweet Home, which thanks in large part to his e orts with the cattle drives, would make that community one of the largest and most prosperous around during that time.

MEET THE WESTS

e eldest of three sons in the West family, they’d moved from his birthplace in Tennessee to the heart of Lavaca County, setting up roots in what would become the community

of Sweet Home.

One of West’s cousins, upon arriving on their arduous journey from Tennessee, supposedly looked up at her father and, pointing to nearby grove of trees, said, “Gee pa, wouldn’t that spot make for a sweet home?” It’s how local lore claims the place got its name, believe it or not.

Still, the move changed the family’s fortunes almost instantly. You see, Sweet Home is located along the Old Spanish Trail, one of the main thoroughfares of its day. It served as a Confederate encampment throughout the war, and it also served as one of their main hubs in the trading lines that ran south to Brownsville throughout the war.

But it also sat at about the exact midway point between the towns of Houston and San Antonio, meaning Sweet Home stayed a urry of activity always, with people and traded goods passing through almost constantly.

at location even allowed those in Sweet Home to enjoy many amenities that a place its size shouldn’t— access to a steady stage line, regular mail service communications and a plethora of trade avenues and commerce—it was as if they’d moved to one of those larger cities, all without the hassle of the troublesome crowds found at either end of that stage line.

Undoubtedly, these cattle drives played a key part in Sweet Home’s early success, and West would lead many more drives during the 1870s into places like Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas.

In perhaps his most legendary ride, West and his crew contracted with the government, in 1870, to drive some 14,000 head of cattle from Sweet Home to a Montana Indian reservation set just a stone’s throw from the Canadian border.

All totaled, that’s precisely 16 miles shy of 2,000 miles that they covered on that trip, and they still had the return trip to make yet. Sixteen miles. at’s about how far it is from Hallettsville to Shiner. Certainly not much, and even more impressive considering they did it on horseback, all while pushing 14,000 wild-eyed momma cows and their babies through some of the wildest wilderness the United States still had left.

It o cially went down as the longest documented cattle drive ever made during that era. It made them all famous, but none more so than young George West.

For he may have been the youngest of the riders on the trail with each haul of cattle they took—he was just 19 when they started that monster of a ride to Montana—but he was decidedly its boss, on that there was never a question. He made them all phenomenally wealthy men.

at Midas touch of his wouldn’t always hold out, however. And it started about the time a whole new breed of settlers began arriving in Lavaca County by the boatload.

O E L C

Date: September 1913/Creator:

CZECHS & GERMANS ARRIVE

About the time that those cattle drives started to zzle out—via the expansion of rail lines ever farther south and the rst appearances of what would be the fencing of America— immigrants from Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and several provinces across southern Germany began arriving in unprecedented numbers.

Most would arrive via ports in Galveston and Indianola. It was often a less than comfortable voyage for many of them, but this was to be a new beginning, one entirely of their own choosing. So, hope worked to outweigh any other discomforts endured, from dysentery to seasickness, overcrowded quarters to claustrophobia, even pains of childbirth. All manner of ailment was gladly endured on the voyage over because their hearts were lled with hope.

e world underwent some major changes for many right about then, with industrialization spread across much of Europe, e ectively ending the pastoral ways of life and forcing

them to the cities and their factories. Add to that, new inheritance laws had become such that if you weren’t the rst son born into a family, the notion of property ownership was about as likely as the ability to turn lead into gold.

Plus, though one couldn’t quite put a nger on it just yet, Europe was becoming a powder keg, just waiting to explode. No one quite comprehended the notion of a world war just yet, but the coming 20th century would expend half itself invested in just that.

And while they may not have realized it, lines were slowly getting drawn, all over the places they knew as their home back in the Old World. Ideologies were taking root, and tempers were starting to are. And as so often happens with sweeping ideologies, you were either onboard with it completely or you were an enemy. at may seem nothing but a lot of talk, but a lot of talk is all it took to get a man dead. Maybe not quite yet, but it was coming soon enough. Why

Portrait of the officials and employees of Lavaca County, Texas. They are posing in front of the court house. There are two people in the photograph that are named, according to the label. “Bottom row, left to right - Joseph Kopecky, ?, Frank Schoppe.” Everyone else is unidentified.

Braunig, H. J.

E L C

Portrait of the officers and employees of Lavaca County, Texas posing in front of the court house. According to accompanying information, the people pictured are (bottom row left to right) Oliver East, John Gerdes, Judge C. L. Stavinoha, Frank Matula, Dock Burkett, (middle left to right) Judge Paul Fertsch, Frank Schoppe, E. A. Turk, Charles Strauss, Joe Bozka, (top left to right) Lewis Allen, Konvicka, Bertha Mikulenka, Martha Speary, Albina Matula, Helen Mikulenka, Ferd Lacy, Leopold Mascheck, John Holubec, and Porter McCord. Braunig February 15, 1 28

do you suppose the communist gulag existed, or for that matter, the socalled Nazi work camps? Such drastic changes don’t occur overnight. ather, people get eased into such beliefs gradually. And both the communist doctrine and erman Nazism were already taking root. The change was electric in the air. It was just a matter of when it would be revealed.

Then here comes some fellow who spoke of all the land one could imagine, simply there for the taking. Abundant lands with fertile soils that no plow had ever touched, with sparkling streams at every turn, full of fish, and wild game like they’d never seen.

Plus, none of it was subject to Old World laws and mentalities. All you needed was a willingness to work, and your world would be what you made it.

ust book your passage to Texas now.

arly Texas officials made sure

those living back in the Old World heard such things, too. ey sent over emissaries, if you will—call them what you will: publicists, promoters or, in many cases, straight up snake oil salesmen—to talk up Texas and get people on a boat with their families. Because they realized that the only way to solve their problems with general lawlessness and, particularly, the Comanche, who still terrorized families all along the fringes of the ever-growing state, was to at push them out. at meant settling and populating as much of the state just as fast as humanly possible.

Sure, a few likely would become Comanche fodder, no doubt. But so long as there was always another and then another, a steady line of people ready to ll their shoes that never stops, the Comanche and the outlaw would simply grow tired and move on.

at was one belief, at least.

A BILL OF GOODS

So, population—numbers—that’s all they really needed, and the fastest way to get them was from someplace else. Hardly the line they used on the boats, but an apt view of it all now, with about 140 years of hindsight to clear up whatever rose-colored eye wear they may otherwise use.

To hear the actual sales pitch, we’re sure Texas probably sounded like the Garden of Eden, before that ol’ snake started chatting it up with Eve. And depending on what time in the year it was when they arrived, they may have believed they’d gotten their bill of goods, just as promised.

Sooner or later, however, the real world would land on them like an overturned cart of broken bricks: Heavy, sharp and scattered asunder. is was Texas, after all, and for every blessing she might bestow, there’s almost always a blistering, thorn-studded fang lurking someplace in the darkness, just begging to watch you bleed.

Still, that’s how the population took a decided turn. It’s also how cattle became such an economic mainstay. Which seems only tting, considering cows were how we got our name to start with.

Cow-calf production remains at the heart of Lavaca County livelihoods today still, second only to pump jacks. And all those hordes of immigrants from Germany, Bohemia and Moravia? Oh, we’re still around, still making our homes in the county, still working our little farmsteads. While resuscitating its cotton industry only lasted a few decades before it eventually moved farther west to the Texas Panhandle. ose new settlers brought with them new names and new traditions which live on still, giving the county much of its singular character today.

For more on our history, visit the Friench Simpson Memorial Library’s historic archive collections. You’ll be glad you did.