Solomon West traveled from Alabama to Lavaca County in June of 1853 and purchased 2,214 acres of land on Mustang Creek.  When his family joined him in 1854 after a long, tiresome journey by wagon train, Mary B. West exhaustingly exclaimed, “Pa, this would be a real sweet home,” and thus, the area was named.

In 1887, the Aransas Pass Railroad tracks were laid from Hallettsville to Yoakum.  Most villagers moved from old Sweet Home to the present location to be near the railroad.  With the railroad, the town prospered and grew to include a railroad depot, drug stores, a rooming house, an ice house, two hotels, a bank, a mortuary, lumber yards, a Masonic lodge, churches, a dance hall and a large merchandise store.  Many cattle drives stopped to rest in Sweet Home as they traveled the Old Chisholm Trail. Later, however, when the railroad discontinued its path through Sweet Home, most businesses also relocated.

In 1891, the first Sweet Home public school was housed in the Masonic lodge hall.  In 1919, a two-story frame schoolhouse was built south of the railroad tracks. In 1935, a new building was constructed at the intersection of FM 531 and 318 for grades primary through high school; that building remains part of the Sweet Home School campus.

The town of Sweet Home continues as an established rural community with a post office, volunteer fire department, businesses, churches, and a community center.  Sweet Home School has repeatedly attained exemplary status in the state accountability system, and continues to provide a unique educational experience for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.