Mercantile, high school, Fire Department set the pace

In the early 1970’s the Doobie Brothers sang about a sleepy little town around San Antonio called “China Grove”

The “China Grove” song was about the everyday activities of the people who live in a little local area.

Here in Lavaca County, there is also a small community, known as Ezzell, that a song could be written that tells about the energetic residents who are working to have Ezzell to be not just a dot on the map.

In the past few years Ezzell, which is located about 15 minutes south of Hallettsville, has begun to expand with the school district adding high school classes, a new volunteer fire department developed and most recently the start of The Old 300 Mercantile, a store offering all kinds of items made by small neighborhood businesses.

History of Ezzell

According to Paul C. Boethel’s, A History of Lavaca County as well as the Texas State Historical Association’s Handbook of Texas, the beginning of Ezzell was established between 1830 and 1836 when families from the “Old Three Hundred” colony settled in the area. It was originally known as Kent and located in area known as “Tiger Bend.”

With the settlers having to travel to Petersburg for supplies, the community established its own stores with one owned and operated by Sam and Ira Ezzell, of whom the locality was named.

Today, the quiet rural community is growing and the residents are excited about its progress.

The Old 300 Mercantile

Perhaps the most recent expansion to the community is the formation of a store called The Old 300 Mercantile.

According to store owner, Lacey Wilson, who is in partnership with Lisa Berckenhoff and son Quinn, who owns the property where the store is located, decided to name the store after the Old Three Hundred family.

“These were the settlers who were given land grants and this one (location) was of the first land grants,” Wilson said. “We want to build something rooted in the fundamental veracity of the past to drive forward for the sustainability of the future. That’s why we’re doing what is being done because change comes from the ground up, not from the top down.”

According to Wilson, the store is a place for people to get away from the hectic shopping in the bigger cities.

“Inside the Old 300 Mercantile we’re selling for 30 families,” Wilson said. “This is a representation of a taste of the community. It is a place for people to come and get away from big box store shopping.”

The Old 300 Mercantile contains items that can be found at other mercantile stores including homemade clothing items and homemade canned products.

It also has baked goods that come from bakers in the area including Victoria, Sheridan, Hallettsville, Shiner as well as people who are less than a block away from the Old 300 Mercantile.

Other goods include boutique items, jewelry, candies and they will soon sell feeds and other assorted items.

Wilson said other plans include having food trucks as well as eventually opening a kitchen to serve foods.

She said one other plan is to construct a big community center in a field behind the Old 300 Mercantile where they will hold barn dances, markets, and a place for the Ezzell FFA to hold metal works and animal competitions.

“We want something that will get us on bucket list,” Wilson said in explaining her goals for the store. “We want something that changes America. We want to create something that people see and can come to enjoy.”

The Old 300 Mercantile is located at 5959 CR 12, on the corner of CR 1 and CR 12 across from Ezzell School. The store hours are from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Ezzell High School

As more people settled in Ezzell, the first public school was established in 1883 and a new 4-room school was built in 1922. Also, by the mid-1930’s, the school had over 100 students attending in grades one through nine.

Through the years, the school continued to operate and expand, and despite rural schools across Texas consolidating with the larger public schools by mid-century, it remained its own district.

Regarding improvements at Ezzell ISD, since its origination the school has continued to expand with a new wing added and in 1989 the school expanded even more with three classrooms, a Science lab and Physical Ed. facility.

In 2020, the school began offering a high school curriculum and Blake Reed became the first graduate of Ezzell High School in 2023.

Ezzell VFD

Prior to 2026, any fire taking place in the Ezzell area was answered by units from the Yoakum Fire Department and the Hallettsville Volunteer Fire Department.

Of course with both departments located at least 15-20 minutes away, citizens in the Ezzell community started the process to create their own VFD.

In December 2024, Jeff Patrick, who is now the fire chief, and Brad Woods presented their plan to the Lavaca County Commissioners’ Court, who gave their support for the endeavor.

Following the court’s approved support, the group went about soliciting funding to make the department become a reality, trained their volunteer firemen and on March 12, 2026 the department became operational.

Only two days later, the department answered to its first call, a grass fire on FM 531 and working with other area departments were able to get the fire under control.

Today the department has between 10 to 15 volunteers and adequate fire vehicles and equipment to respond to calls. Also, at present the EVFD vehicles are stored at some of the volunteers area homes, but a fire station is in the works to eventually be constructed at the corner of CR 1 and CR 14 south of the community.

The volunteer firemen, who are family, friends and neighbors of the Ezzell community, are highly trained and firmly committed, and ready to respond to emergencies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.