 Country artist Jimmy Dean, his brother Don Dean, and cousin-in-law Troy Pritchard founded the Jimmy Dean Sausage Company and opened the Jimmy Dean Meat Company in 1969.As of 2010, Hale County was one of 62 counties in Texas still legally barring the sale of alcohol.According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (0.01%) is covered by water.