[8] A few of the early settlers of the Hallettsville area include Collatinus Ballard, M. B. Bennett, A. W. Hicks, David Ives, Ira McDaniel, and William Smeathers.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km2), all land.

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.

It also hosts its annual Kolache Fest the last weekend in September and State Championship Fiddler's Frolic on the last Saturday in April[15] The Friench Simpson Memorial Library has served the residents of Hallettsville and Lavaca County for over 70 years.

The modern library houses over 20,000 volumes and is a major source of local history and genealogy research for the area.

Although the actual town involved in the real story of the "Chicken Ranch" is located a few miles north of Hallettsville on Highway 77, film makers chose the town's historic Lavaca County Courthouse square to serve as backdrop for the city scenes in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the 1982 musical starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton.

once called Hallettsville the "13 City" because in 1913 it had 13 letters in the name, a population of 1300, 13 churches, 13 newspapers, and even 13 saloons.

[17][18] The town is also visited by Antoine de Maximy for the French TV show J'irais dormir chez vous (in English I'll Come Sleep in Your House), during his journey in the United States.