SOLOMON WEST TRAVELED FROM ALABAMA TO LAVACA COUNTY IN
JUNE OF 1853 AND PURCHASED 2,214 ACRES OF LAND ON MUSTANG CREEK.
WHEN HIS FAMILY JOINED HIM IN 1854 AFTER A LONG, TIRESOME JOURNEY
BY WAGON TRAIN, MARY B. WEST EXCITINGLY SAID,''PA, THIS WOULD BE A REAL
SWEET HOME'' AND THUS, THE AREA WAS NAMED.
SWEET HOME TOWN WAS ESTABLIESHED IN 1887 WHEN THE SAN ANTONIO /
ARANSAS PASS RAILROAD LAID TRACKS THROUGH LAVACA COUNTY. OVER THE
LAST 150 YEARS, SWEET HOME HAS GONE THROUGH A LOT OR CHANGES
MOST VILLAGERS MOVED FROM OLD SWEET HOME TO THE PRESENT LOCATION
TO BE NEAR THE RAILROAD. THE TOWN PROSPERED AND GREW TO INCLUDE A
RAILROAD DEPOT, A DRUG STORE, A ROOMING HOUSE, AN ICE HOUSE, TWO
BANKS,TWO MOTELS, A MORTUARY, A LUMBER YARD, A MASONIC LODGE, TWO
CHURCHES, A LARGE MERCHANDISE STORE, A COTTON GIN, A TOMATO GRADE
SHED, A DANCE HALL CALLED '' WAGON WHEEL'', AND ABOUT FOUR SALOONS.
THE CATTLE DRIVERS STOPPED TO REST IN SWEET HOME AS THEY TRAVELED
THE OLD CHISHOLM TRAIL. LATER, HOWEVER, WHEN THE RAILROAD
DISCONTINUED ITS PATH THROUGH SWEET HOME, MOST BUSINESSES RELOCATED.
TODAY, SWEET HOME HAS TWO LEATHER FACTORIES, A POST OFFICE, A GAS
STATION, A SALOON, A FIRE DEPARTMENT, A CATHOLIC CHURCH, A PARISH
HALL, A BAPTIST CHURCH, AN AUTO REPAIR SHOP, A SIGN COMPANY,AN
ANTIQUE CAR SHOP, A SCHOOL, A STORE & KITCHEN, A LITTLE LEAGUE BALL
FIELD, AN AMERICAN LEGION HALL, & THE SWEET HOME HALL.
IN 1949 THE KUTAC FAMILY DONATED TWO ACRES OF LAND TO
S.P.J.S.T. LODGE # 63. THEY BUILT THE SWEET HOME HALL. THE FLOOR WAS USED
FROM THE OLD WAGON WHEEL BUILT IN 1887, AND THEN IN 1958 THE SWEET HOME
FIRE DEPT. PURCHAED IT, IN 1967 , HURRICANE BLULAH DEMOLISHED THE HALL ALL
EXCEPT THE FLOOR, THE FIRE DEPT REBUILT THE HALL ON THE SAME FLOOR. IN 1990
THE YOAKUM C.B. CLUB BOUGHT THE HALL. THEY HAVE BINGO ON MONDAYS AND
FRIDAYS. ON WEEK ENDS IT IS USED FOR RENTALS AND DANCES. IF YOU DANCE ON
THE FLOOR IN SWEET HOME HALL YOU CAN SAY YOU DANCED WERE BOB WILLS,
JOE PATEK, ADOLPH HOFFNER, FRANK MIGL, ADOLPH MIGL. WORTHING BRASS BAND,
RUDY KURTZ, AND THE VANEK'S ORCHESTRA, PLAYED BACK IN THE TWENTY'S AND
THIRTY'S, THE OLD WAGON WHEEL HALL WAS 3 BLOCKS DOWN FROM THE SWEET
HOME HALL RUNNING PARALLEL WITH FM 531 MGR,FATHER KUREATO BOUGHT IT
OUT IN THE MID 40'S. AFTER HE RETIRED FROM QUEEN OF PEACE CHURCH HE BUILT
HIM A HOME ON THE CORNER OF FM 531 & 77 A, THE PROPERTY WAS SOLD TO GENE
JANAK AND HE BUILT HIS OWN HOME. THE WAGON WHEEL WAS ROUNG. THE CEILING
LOOKED LIKE SPOKES AND IN THE IN THE MIDDLE CEILING A HUB FOR AIR VENT,
THAT'S WHY THEY IT WAGON WHEEL, THE LAST COUPLE BOOKED DANCE WAS
MR & MRS. WACHARS AND LATER MOVED TO CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS. IT WAS
RUMOR THAT HANK WILLIAMS WAS BOOKED BUT HE NEVER SHOWED UP
MUSIC CITY''
