Hackberry was established in northern Lavaca County by German immigrant Ludwig Eduard Neuhaus, who came to Texas in 1846 and encouraged and sponsored other German immigrants, including his brothers Franz and Hermann, to settle there. His aim was to bring Germans to the area who could contribute to and augment its German population. Located along the Gonzales-San Felipe Road, a vital route across northern Lavaca County, the settlement grew steadily and by the 1850s was thriving, with a saw mill, grist mill, and a general store run from the Neuhaus home by Ludwig and his wife Auguste. In 1861, a Methodist Church that also served as a school was established, and the town received a post office and was officially named Hackberry for the trees on Neuhaus property. Hackberry provided daily stages to Hallettsville and Schulenburg and also had a dance hall, slaughter house, and dipping vat. Area settlers included large plantation owner W.G. Foley and James W. Robinson, provisional governor of Texas in 1836. In the late 1800s, Hackberry began to decline after a railroad bypassed the town, and the population dropped quickly. The Neuhaus General Store closed in 1935, and only a few structures remained as vestiges of the community. Today Hackberry remains a link to the area's past as an agricultural community development.