An independent history of Haslet, Tarrant County, Texas

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ExploreHaslet, Texas

Haslet in 17 objects

A schoolhouse paid for with campaign money, a tractor wheel, a coffee maker, a dunk tank. Small things that tell the town's story, oldest first.

  1. 1879

    A schoolhouse bought with campaign money

    During the 1879 election campaign, residents asked candidates for donations. The roughly $150 they collected built the Blue Mound schoolhouse. About seven years later it was loaded onto wagons and moved half a mile north.

    1 source
    1. History of City City of Haslet
  2. A two-story white clapboard building with a pointed bell tower on the left, an outside staircase, and open prairie around it. A handwritten label reads "Community Church, Masonic Lodge #999, Haslet School, Built 1880, Picture made 1916."

    Built 1880, photographed 1916

    Church, lodge, and school under one roof

    The label on this print reads "Community Church, Masonic Lodge #999, Haslet School, Built 1880." A 1996 Star-Telegram article in the library's collection describes an old building built in 1880 from local political candidates' donations and used as a church and Masonic hall.

    2 sources
    1. [Community Church, Masonic Lodge No. 999, Haslet School] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries
    2. [Newspaper Article from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, November 21, 1996] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries

  3. 1883

    The Santa Fe tracks

    The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway built its line through the area in 1883, and the Handbook of Texas dates the community itself to that year.

    1 source
    1. Haslet, TX Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association (Brian Hart)

  4. 1916 to 1942

    The rear wheel of a Rumely OilPull tractor

    John Henry Singleton's 1916 Rumely OilPull Type 30-60 plowed and threshed on the family farm for more than twenty years. It was cut up for scrap metal in 1942 for the war effort. One rear wheel was saved and is displayed on part of the original farm.

    1 source
    1. Some History of Willow Springs Ranch and Willow Springs West, Haslet, Texas D.R. Moss Quality Custom Homes

  5. November 1, 1918

    A World War I draft classification card

    A postcard sent by Odons L. Hudnalls to the local War Department board with his draft classification filled out, ten days before the armistice.

    1 source
    1. [Postcard from Odons L. Hudnalls to the Local War Department Board] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries
  6. About twenty children in overalls and dresses, several barefoot, stand in rows with their teacher in front of a brick building with a "County Free Library" sign.

    About 1920

    The County Free Library sign

    A class of twenty-one students poses in front of a brick building with a "County Free Library" sign. Six of the children are barefoot.

    1 source
    1. [County Free Library] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries
  7. A small filling station with a hipped roof and tall glass-topped gas pumps, a 1920s automobile parked at the pumps, and a man leaning on one pump.

    1920s

    The pumps at Hanes Filling Station

    Tall glass-topped pumps and a single car under the roof at the Hanes Filling Station, one of the town's first stops for automobiles.

    1 source
    1. [Photograph of Hanes Filling Station] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries
  8. Two young women stand on a long front walk before a two-story brick school with arched doorways and "Public School" and a star lettered in the gable.

    Built 1914

    "Public School" in the gable

    A note on the back of this photograph reads "Original Haslet School, Built 1914."

    1 source
    1. [Haslet public school] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries

  9. Haslet High School, 1941 to 1942

    A graduation program

    The order of service for the baccalaureate of Haslet High School's class of 1941 to 1942, listing the graduates by name.

    1 source
    1. [Haslet High School Baccalaureate Service] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries

  10. November 1954

    A coffee maker at the founding of the fire department

    At the meeting that organized the Haslet Fire Department, Lallie Lewis served coffee. The photograph is one of several from that night.

    1 source
    1. [Photograph of Meeting to Organize Haslet Fire Department] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries
  11. Two young men stand in front of a 1940s car on the gravel shoulder of FM 156, with a row of small storefronts and signs stretching behind them.

    About 1958

    Haslet State Bank

    Two young men pose by a car on the shoulder of FM 156. The Portal's record notes the Haslet State Bank as the last building in the row behind them.

    1 source
    1. [Photograph of Jerry McCormick and Jack Moon] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries

  12. May 15, 1969

    A new pumper truck

    A newspaper article reports that Haslet was buying a new pumper truck, with photographs of the volunteers, the hose brigade, and the fire hall.

    1 source
    1. [Newspaper Article Saying Haslet was Buying a Pumper Truck] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries

  13. February 4, 1971

    The first garbage pickup

    "Haslet Has First Garbage Service," reads one headline on this clipping. The other: "U.S. Messes Up Haslet Census."

    1 source
    1. [Newspaper Clipping with Two Articles from February 4, 1971] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries
  14. A yellowed newspaper page from The News-Tribune, July 30, 1976, headlined "Last Cotton Gin Moving From Haslet," by Mrs. H. W. Godbey.

    July 30, 1976

    "Last Cotton Gin Moving From Haslet"

    Mrs. H. W. Godbey's News-Tribune article recalls the town of 1936 and reports that the last gin had been sold.

    1 source
    1. [The News-Tribune Newspaper Clipping from July 30, 1976] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries

  15. Opened December 14, 1989

    The control tower at Alliance

    Alliance Airport opened next to Haslet as what Hillwood calls the world's first industrial airport designed for cargo and corporate aviation. It was renamed Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport in 2022.

    1 source
    1. Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport Officially Recognized at Special Dedication Event (Dec. 15, 2022) Hillwood press release

  16. December 2, 1990

    An open-house flyer for the new post office

    Haslet had a post office from 1887. More than a century later, a flyer invited residents to an open house at the new one, and a clipping shows crews finishing its parking lot.

    3 sources
    1. Haslet, TX Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association (Brian Hart)
    2. [Flyer Announcing an Open House at the Haslet Pose Office] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries
    3. [Newspaper Clipping with a Photograph of the Future Haslet Post Office] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries
  17. A soaked older man in a cap sits in the water tank of a dunking booth behind a chain-link screen, laughing.

    June 15, 1996

    A dunk tank

    Mayor Blackie Frazier, soaked, at a fire department fundraiser.

    1 source
    1. [Photograph of Mayor Blackie Frazier in a Dunking Booth] Haslet Public Library, via The Portal to Texas History, UNT Libraries