Hallsville

History

The area was first settled in 1839, when Fort Crawford was built one mile west of the site of present Hallsville by W. C. Crawford as a protection against Indians. In 1849, the fort is reported to have had a post office and a two-story building that served as church, Masonic hall, and school (the only school in western Harrison County until 1868). In 1869, when an independent Southern Pacific Railway crossed a mile north of Fort Crawford, the settlers moved to the railroad and named the new settlement for a railroad official. All that remains at the original location is a cemetery. A post office named "Hallville" opened in 1869, and the first business in the new community was a saloon. From 1869 to 1872 the town was the terminus of the railroad, and the railroad company built a general office and machine shops there. The community incorporated for the first time in 1870 and was a boom town, with as many as fifty businesses, in the early 1870s. Hallville shipped cotton, wool, and hides. In 1872, when the Texas and Pacific acquired the railroad and built out to Longview in Gregg County, Hallville lost much of its western trade. In 1873, the railroad moved its local headquarters and shops to Marshall. Hallville's incorporation lapsed, and the community lost many of its people to Marshall in the later 1870s. In 1884, it had an estimated 600 inhabitants, three churches, six sawmills, six grist mill-gins, a hotel, two saloons, and a cooperative association. By 1892 the population had fallen to 300, but it recovered to 600 in the 1900s. In 1904, the Hallville school district had two schools serving 180 white pupils and one school serving 111 black pupils Galilee High School. A bank opened in the community in 1909. In the 1920s, the post office changed the spelling of its…

Geography

Hallsville is located in western Harrison County. U.S. Highway 80 passes through the center of town as Main Street, leading east to Marshall, the county seat, and west to Longview. Farm to Market Road 450 leads south from the center of Hallsville to Interstate 20 at exit 604 and north to Harleton. According to the United States Census Bureau, Hallsville has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  822
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  732
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  708
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  651
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  591
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  561
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  551
• Black Vulture

  Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) · Aves
  529

Most recent

• M 3 — 2025-08-21
  8 km W of Huxley, Texas
• M 3.5 — 2025-01-18
  0 km WSW of Mooringsport, Louisiana
• M 3 — 2025-01-06
  4 km ESE of Mooringsport, Louisiana
• M 2.9 — 2024-12-22
  7 km WSW of Mooringsport, Louisiana
• M 3.1 — 2024-12-20
  7 km S of Mooringsport, Louisiana
• M 2.6 — 2024-12-19
  9 km SW of Mooringsport, Louisiana