Hallettsville is named for an early founding family that colonized this area. John Hallett had received a land grant from Stephen F. Austin in 1831 and after his death in 1836 his wife, Margaret Hallett, donated the land for the town's location. A few of the early settlers of the Hallettsville area include Collatinus Ballard, M. B. Bennett, A. W. Hicks, David Ives, Ira McDaniel, and William Smeathers.
Geography
Hallettsville is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, all of it land.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,345 people, 1,019 households, and 627 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,051.0 people per square mile. There were 1,223 housing units at an average density of 548.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 77.10% White, 16.46% Black, 0.17% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 4.48% from other races, and 1.62% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.17% of the population. There were 1,019 households, out of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.4% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 3.00. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.2% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 23.4% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,089, and the median income for a family was $38,080. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $20,365 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,811. About 16.4% of families and 17.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.0% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over.
Arts and culture
The town is home to the Texas Championship Domino Hall of Fame and also hosts a State Championship tournament every year in January, and a State Championship '42' Domino Tournament in March. Hallettsville also has the Central Texas Semi Pro Baseball Hall of Fame and the Texas State Championship High School Rodeo Hall of Fame. It also hosts its annual Kolache Fest the last weekend in September and State Championship Fiddler's Frolic last Saturday in April
Government
Lavaca County
US and Municipal
Public Library
The Friench Simpson Memorial Library has served the residents of Hallettsville as well as Lavaca County for over 70 years. The modern library houses over 20,000 volumes and is a major source of local history and genealogy research for the area. Public access computers with Internet connections are available for use at the library.
Hallettsville is the birthplace of the late philanthropist and businessman Adolph R. Hanslik of Lubbock, a Czech-American sometimes called the dean of Texas cotton exporters. It is also the birthplace of Logan Ondrusek, pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds. Andy Rice was an American college and professional football player. He played collegiately for Texas Southern, and went to the American Football League's Kansas City Chiefs in 1965. He started for them in the first Super Bowl against the Green Bay Packers
In popular culture
Although the actual town involved in the real story of the "Chicken Ranch" is located a few miles north of Hallettsville on Highway 77, film makers chose the town's historic Lavaca County Courthouse square to serve as backdrop for the city scenes in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the 1982 musical starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton. Hallettsville is also the featured location in the 2009 horror film titled Hallettsville, which stars Gary Busey and Derek Lee Nixon. The town is mentioned in the Robert Earl Keen song "Armadillo Jackel" as the place where they pay $2.50 for dead armadillos. Ripley's Believe It or Not! once called Hallettsville the "13 City" because in 1913 it had 13 letters in the name, a population of 1300, 13 churches, 13 newspapers, and even 13 saloons. The town is also visited by Antoine de Maximy for the french tv show "J'irais dormir chez vous", during his journey in the United States.
