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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
Today
Photographer'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:
Site 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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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
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