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History
in a Pecan Shell
An early land grant of the Republic of Texas, J. Branton Johnson acquired the
land here in March of 1838. The property was broken up for sale to arriving German
settlers after the Civil War.
Frank Klecka chose this particular spot to
build a store and recreation hall. The convergence of several roads with the railroad
tracks made Klecka’s business a sure thing.
A few years later a cotton
gin was built, forming the nucleus of a community. Early population figures are
unavailable but the 1950 Census reported 50 residents of Midway.
Cotton
was the town’s economic engine for the first half of the 20th Century. It peaked
in 1906 with 40,000 bales being reported. It was half that number shortly after
WWII. Midway’s cotton gin
was the last to operate in Lavaca County.
See Hallettsville,
Lavaca County Seat
Midway,
Texas TodayPhotographer's
Note
“Here is one
of 18 places called Midway in Texas. This one is located in Lavaca County between
Shiner and
Yoakum. Just of Hwy 95 & a mile east on FM-958. Located
alongside the railroad tracks, it’s probably on the old Shiner-Yoakum road. The
historical marker is for a nearby early school of Lavaca County. it is locaed
about 1/4 to 1/2 mile east of Midway.” - Will
Beauchamp, December 2009 |
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Historical
Marker TextSite
of Beasley School School-age
children in this part of Lavaca County first attended the Broom Weed school on
South Mustang Creek as early as 1885. Mary Singer taught all the children in a
single classroom. In 1890 the crude frame schoolhouse was deemed inadequate, and
Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Beasley opened the second floor of their home for classes.
That same year the Beasleys donated an acre of land for a new one-room school
building.
Mary Boone was the first teacher in the new school, renamed
Beasley for the property donors. In 1910 a two-room schoolhouse was built on two
acres purchased from G. C. Thompson. Additional improvements to the property were
made in 1921-1923, when a teacherage, a water well and a windmill were constructed.
In its early years, Beasley students attended school only five months out of the
year. As this was a rural farming area, the school year was often determined by
the growing season, when students needed to help at home with the planting, tending
and harvest. Over the years, the school year expanded to eight months and then
nine months.
Until it was closed in 1951 and annexed to the Shiner
school district, Beasley School was a center of community activities. Although
the buildings associated with the school no longer stand, Beasley School remains
an important part of the history of this part of Lavaca County. |
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1940s
Lavaca County map showing Midway
(Above "L" in "LAVACA")
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
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