Lovelady, TX

Lovelady is a town in Houston County, Texas, United States. The 2020 census counted 570 residents. Lovelady was founded by investors of the Houston & Great Northern Railroad as a railway line was built through a land grant of Cyrus Lovelady, near the communities of Nevil's Prairie, Pennington, and Weldon. The U.S. Post Office opened on November 8, 1872. Lovelady is perhaps best known for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Eastham Unit, a medium security penitentiary housing some 2,400 inmates for various offenses. The local economy is dependent on the employment of the local workforce at the prison, which has a current staff of 718 employees.

Lovelady's local map joins its older history to the places and landscapes that still shape the town today, all within the wider Texas setting. The local scoop is how Lovelady's history still shows up in the places people visit, work, learn, and meet. Lovelady is located in southern Houston County. Texas State Highway 19 runs through the center of town as Commerce Street, leading north 14 miles to Crockett, the county seat, and south the same distance to Trinity.