The History of Hideaway, Texas

The land that became Hideaway has roots stretching back to the 1850s, when it was part of a large plantation settled by Richard B. Hubbard Jr. and his parents. Hubbard would go on to serve as governor of Texas in the late 1870s, giving the area a notable place in the state's history long before any community existed there.

The plantation lands passed down through the Hubbard family, and in 1939 R. W. Fair purchased the once-grand estate from family members who had inherited it. For decades the land remained rural East Texas country — until a new vision in the 1960s would transform it into something entirely different.

In the late 1960s, developer James Fair began building a recreational community on the former plantation land, centered on three small man-made lakes. Hideaway — often called Hide-A-Way Lake — opened its gates for lot sales on July 4, 1967, an apt birthday for a place built around leisure and the good life.

The development was first incorporated in 1969 by Hideaway Homeowners, Inc., and Hideaway Lake Club, Inc. Covering more than 1,300 acres with over 1,900 authorized lots, it offered amenities almost unheard of for the area at the time: a golf course and clubhouse, a lodge, stocked lakes, and recreational facilities. Lot by lot, a gated community of homes grew up around the lakes and fairways.

For decades Hideaway operated as a private gated community governed by its homeowners' and lake club organizations. But in 2001, facing the prospect of being annexed by a nearby city, residents voted to incorporate Hideaway as a city of its own — a move to preserve their independence and control over the community they had built.

Today Hideaway is home to more than 3,000 residents, the great majority of whom live there year-round rather than as a vacation retreat. With its three nine-hole golf courses, spring-fed lakes, parks, and clubhouse — all behind gates, with around-the-clock security, and within the well-regarded Lindale school district — it remains one of the most distinctive places to live in Smith County: a planned lake-and-golf community that became a permanent hometown.