Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938 Page: 211 of 264
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GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY EDITION, 1938.
AMARILLO SUNDAY NEWS AND GLOBE AMARTLLO. TEXAS
BECTION P-PAOE TWENTY-SEVEN
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This photograph, repro-
duction of which is made
possible through the cour-
tesy of Oscar Smith of
Canyon, shows that even
as long ago as 20 years,
John Snider, now national
barbecue king, had con-
siderable following.
The occasion was a bar-
becue, jriven at Devil's
Kitchen on June 19, 1917,
as part of the entertain-
ment given the location
commission for the pro-
m
posed W«st Texas Agri-
cultural and Mechanical
College by an expectant
Amarillo citizenry, in the
hope that the commission
would choose Amarillo as
the site. Col, Will A. Mil-
ler, in a banquet speech at
the old Elk Hotel early in
the day, had outlined a
program which would
make the proposed college
the "Culver of the South."
The Texas cow horse
would be crossed with the
Arabian horse to develop
a strain which Colonel
Miller said cavalry offi-
cers believed would make
a cavalry mount par excel-
lent. The college would
be the only land grant in-
stitution in the United
States to maintain a cav-
alry school.
The photograph gives no
hint, however, of the po-
litical tempest which was
to ensue throughout the
summer, after three of the
five members of the com-
mission had, on the second
balloting, chosen Abilene
as the site of the college.
Amarillo had received one
vote on the first balloting,
which had failed to prive a
majority to any town. Al-
though Abilene was very
happy about the whole
thing, public opinion
seethed elsewhere in Tex-
as. So furiously did it
seethe that a definite
movement bejjan for the
cutting up of Texas into
four states, with the
Orient railroad forming
the southern boundary of
"West Texas," of which
the Panhandle was to be
the northern portion.
Grave accusations, ex-
pressed and implied, over
the selection of Abilene
on the second balloting,
after only two members,
allegedly, had written
"Abilene" on their first
ballots, were made in the
editorial columns of Texas
newspapers. Governor Fer-
guson was branded va-
riously as "Kaiser,"
"Czar," and the "Supreme
Director of the Grand
I,one Star State," in this
last great outburst of fron-
tier journalism.
Following the impeach-
ment of Governor Fergu-
son shortly afterward - -
although impeachment
proceedings were not di-
rectly related to the con-
troversy over the location
of the proposed college—
the law creating the col-
lege was repealed, Abi-
lene was made one college
poorer than she might
have been, and West Tex-
ans once more turned their
attention to the war then
waging in Europe.
Probably more famous
Panhandle men are as-
sembled in this picture
than any ever made.
Among those in the pic-
ture, recognizable to those
who knew them then, are
from left side of the pic-
ture to the right Walter
Blackburn, Ren Bynum,
John Snider, Will Thomp-
son, Ed Hardin, Henry
Harding. Lindsey Nunn,
J. W. Crudgington, Col,
C. T. Herring, A. S. Stin-
nett. R, B. Masterson, Lee
Satterwhite, W. H Fuqua,
Dr. J. E. Nunn, Oscar
Smith, 0. H. Nelson, Col.
Goodnight. The man in
the middle front with the
black hat is Gov. James E.
Ferguson.
Burned Candle at Both Ends - And
Cot Light of Business Success
They opened their first store at
1 (14 Lincoln, Dec. 11. 1906 The first
day's sales amounted to $'2 25. and it
was several days before they put up
their sign—Blackburn Bro.= . Cloth-
iers. The first stock of the store
was purchased from White As Kirk
and delivered by the late C. C. Cun-
ningham, who advised Mr, White,;
"You know you better set your i
money because those boy? aren't
Going to last longer than a snowball.
In Hades.''
Walter Blackburn, one of the part- i
ners, was burning the candle at both j
ends -though a member of the firm,
he continued to work as a boiler
maker. He recalls that everyone had !
a good laugh about a clothing store
opening for the "Bowery." Walter re- :
members that they sold everything
that they could get. An aunt sent!
Jpff a beautiful white muffler. This. !
with several other presents, was sold.
The muffler netted $1 and the orig- [
inal dollar is still working in stock
for the storp.
Walter worked for all three rail- |
roads, the Santa Fe. the Denver,
and thp Rock Island, until the early
part of 1909 By that time the busi-
ness had grown big enough to de-
mand the attention of both Walter
and Jeff, the other partner.
At the end of the first 12 months,
the two had sold over $16,000 worth
of merchandise. They ran the store
in shifts, Jeff working part of the
time and Walter relieving him for
the remainder of the business day.
They slept in the building and ate
at the famous Saddlerock Restau-
rant.
• •
The brothers stayed at the original
location for only one year. Then
they began a series of moves which
was both baffling and profitable.
They moved across the strPet to a
little flat building which they bought
outright. The brothers rented to
the Clark Bros, the original build-
ing which they had erected on land
rented from F. M. Shaughncssy.
They began expanding. The Micli-
acls. Stern & Company, of Roches-
ter. sent Walter Meyers, now a high
official with the company, to Ama-
rillo. He contacted thp Blackburn
brothers, was impressed with their
store and their history, gave the
Rochester company his personal
| guarantee and took away an order
I for several hundred dollars worth of
merchandise. This was the largest
order that Blackburn Brothers had
ever placed.
Prohibition was becoming more
than a fanatical password; there
was handwriting on the wall and
the old Bowery was doomed. So thp
j brothers moved their store to a new
j location at Fourth and Buchanan, j
j They stayed there until the summer j
of 1911, when they moved to the
Eberstadt Building on Taylor Street.
In 1912 they moved to 515 Polk, the j
present location of Meyer & Meyer.
It was while at 515 Polk that they I
bought their first permanent fix- !
tures. It was a hat case and around j
that hat ease they built their store, j
Thp hat case is still Blackburn Bros,
equipment; it stands at the left of
the door in the present store. They
stayed at 515 Polk for five years,
moved to the Blackburn Building at
Seventh and Polk and in 193C moved
to their present location at 810 Polk.
• •
Walter remembers that one of the
clerks in the early days was R. W.
Simmons, now with the Santa Fe.
Howard Blackburn joined the firm
in 1908 and E. M Blackburn came to
Amarillo in 1918 and bought out the j
F.akle Funeral Home. Another of
the early Blackburn enterprisers was ;
N. O. Glenn who came with the firm '
in 1919 and worked a year or so be-
fore buying some stock.
Walter Atwood, who now owns <
the Pierce Street Greenhouse, j
worked at Blackburn Bras, for many 1
years, and Joe Killough. of Kil-
iough & Davies, was employed in
the firm.
Mr. Blackburn recalls that many \
a time down in the old Bowery
location they had orders for Stet-
son hats, and they would get the j
size and number and one of the
boys would run up town, buy the
hat from anrth'.r merchant on a
10 per cent basis and take it back
to sell to the customer.
The firm started advertising when
they moved into their old Fourth
and Buchanan Street store. They
have had an ad in the Globe every
di.y since 1924.
The place at 810 P?lk is the final
outcome of the enterprise of two
brothers, Jeff and Walter, "who
come from Alabama" without bene-
fit of banjo on their knees. Walter
Blackburn was the third in a fam-
ily of five boys born to Mr. and
Mrs. Thomas J. Blackburn at Mar-
ion, Alabama. Walter attended
school only three or four summers.
He worker' on the farm most of the
time.
At the prescribed 21 years of
age, he went to Birmingham and be-
came a j; urneyman boiler maker.
He traveled from place to place
about the South and came to Ama-
rillo in 1906 as a boiler maker and
iron worker. He worked for a time
on the Frank Storm gas works
building, then prerared to leave for
California. There was an opening
at the Santa Fe and a friend, A1
Williams, now in Birmingham, per-
suaded him to take the job. The
job paid $2 85 for 10 hours work.
He decided to stay here anci wrote
his brother, Jeff, who was in Dal-
| las working for Titche-Goettinger
! Company, Jeff asked Walter to be
j on the lookout for a location for
j a partnership store.
Walter found the location; Jeff
I came to Amarillo; they built their
I 16 by 20 fool store at 104 Lincoln
! and the rest is clothing history. The
first line of clothes handled by the
store was Criterion.
The officers of the firm are:
i Walter Blackburn, president; Per-
i ry Blackburn, secretary and treas-
; urer; and N. O. Glenn, vice presi-
dent and genera! manager. Addi-
tional stockholders are: Stanley
I Blackburn, son of Walter Blackburn
| who is with the store, and John Ed
Blackburn, another son who is at
ihe New Mexico Military Institute.
Besides the officers, the following
are employees: Stanley T. Black-
| burn, Elizabeth Blackburn, J. A
Hazlewod, Earl Glasgow. Bill Young,
Jerry Ratcliff, Aretas Kane, Edith
| Logan. Gera'ldinp Epstein. A R Hur-
:ock. Howard Blackburn. Alex Can-
j on, Walter Parr, John E. Ekelund,
' Lloyd Mundell, Clarence Siamon,
Lloyd Jacobs, John E. Blackburn
| Shelby J. Evans and J. P. William-
| son.
Arrow shirts and collars, Hart
Schaffner and Marx clothes, Dobbs stores in the Sourhwest was broken
and Suetson hats, Hicke.v-Freeman by sadness and death.
clothes and Priestly products are a But jPff had ]lv„d ancj labored
few of the nationally advertised ]ont, pnough with his brother to
.ine.s handled by the store demonstrate tha' the Blackburn
.Jeff died in October of 1928. his , ., , . „„„„
. . bovs hart considerably more
interest was pure iased by Walter
Blackburn and a partnership which j chance of makir.g a uccess "thaTl
! had produced one of the largest a snowball in Hades."
LINE AVE. CLEANERS
GUY IVEY
BATES IVEY
Sincerely congratulate the people of Po+ter Coun+y on their
fifty years of progress.
PHONE 2-2165 FOR
QUALITY DRY CLEANING
——-
CONGRATULATIONS
FROM
DADDY
*>?
The Forth Worth and Denver City Railway with a deep feeling of pride joins Potter County and Amarillo on the
great occasion of celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Potter County.
And rightly so, as it may be properly said that the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway is the "daddy" of Amarillo,
being the first railroad to build into the present location of the city, providing rail transportation to a vast territory
in the great Panhandle which brought a large influx of settlers seeking new homes in the undeveloped Plains—the be-
ginning of the great city of Amarillo.
The builders of the Fort Worth and Denver City, with rare vision, realized the great opportunities awaiting the com-
pletion of the railroad and the Amarillo of today is an enduring testimony of their foresight.
Potter County, created in 1886 from Bexar County and organized in 1887, was named for Robert Potter, a mem-
ber of the cabinet of the Republic of Texas, has an area of 934 square miles, population 46,080, and Amarillo, the county
seat a population (last census) of 43,1 32, to which it has increased from 482 in 1890.
To Potter County and Amarillo the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway extends hearty congratulations in the
commemoration of this 50th Anniversary.
The Fort Worth and Denver Railway
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Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938, newspaper, August 14, 1938; Amarillo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth299921/m1/211/: accessed May 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hutchinson County Library, Borger Branch.