Bosque County: Land and People (A History of Bosque County, Texas) Page: 24
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continue to farm and ranch their land while
also working at jobs in town.
A subsidiary of the Kimbell Milling Com-
pany in Fort Worth, the Texas Milling
Company for a long while was a primary
Clifton industry. Construction of the plant
began in the 1930's, and it continued to
operate until 1975, at which time it was
closed.
During its years in Clifton the Texas
Milling Company manufactured flour, feed,
and feedstuffs which were sent from here
throughout Texas and the United States and
also to other countries.
In 1955 the Walls Manufacturing Com-
pany, owned by George S. Walls, of Cleburne,
opened a branch plant along North Highway
6 in Clifton, with Victor Conrad as its first
manager. It later became known as the Clif-
Tex Manufacturing Company.
Following the death of Mr. Walls six years
ago that Cleburne-based company was pur-
chased by the Oppenheimer investment firm
headed by John Farrah, of New York City.
Now the Clifton plant is one of eight branches
of the company known as Walls Industries,
Inc.
Mrs. Ralph G. Ray is manager of the local
plant, which employs 85 persons (3 men and
82 women) and manufactures outer wear for
hunting, fishing, and work.
Adjacent to the plant is a retail Walls
Outlet Store, which is managed by Mrs.
Hulen Hanson and has eight full-time and
part-time employees.
In August, 1964, Clifton's previously men-
tioned branch plant of the Gearench Manu-
facturing Company of Houston became the
firm's head office. It manufactures tools for
oil, gas, and petrochemical industries and
also for mining, rock drilling, and quarrying
operations.
It was in October, 1978, not long after plant
owner Carl E. Olsen, Sr. had constructed new
company quarters on South Highway 6, that
the firm was sold to the Orbix Corporation
of which Chester N. Posey is board chairman.
Now known as Gearench, Inc., the plant
has 49 employees. President is I.D. May.
Mr. and Mrs. Jack Wilson in 1956 built a
20,000-square foot building at 100 South
Avenue B, just east of the Santa Fe Railway
depot in Clifton, to house their Wilson
Building Materials Company, Inc. That firm
engaged in the manufacture of doors, sashes,
and trim materials.
During the ensuing years Wilson's greatly
expanded its facilities and also later estab-
lished the Love Wood Products Company.
The latter company ground Wilson's sawdust
residue primarily to be used in the making of
asbestos shingling.
Mrs. Wilson, following her husband's
death, continued to operate Wilson's as head
of the company. It was in June, 1977, then
known as Mrs. Essie Wilson Green, that shesold it to Chartwell Industries, the president
of which is John C. Bowden, of Waco.
With Mike Morris as president, the firm
still is being operated in Clifton under the
same name and employs 175 men and women.
It produces louvered doors and moldings and
also processes its sawdust for sale to compan-
ies which manufacture composition roofing.
Wilson Building Materials Company, Inc.,
now encompasses a total floor space of
150,000 square feet.
On August 29, 1966, a corporate charter
was issued to Dr. J.O. Chambers, of Fort
24Worth, and other stockholders. They then
organized Chemical Limestone Products,
Inc., and initiated the construction of a lime
plant six miles southwest of Clifton.
From the above date until 1970 the firm
produced crushed limestone.
It was on June 24, 1970, that the company
name was changed to Chemical Lime, Inc.
On August 15 of that year construction of
the first lime kiln was begun, and shortly
after its completion in June, 1971, the first
load of lime was shipped from the plant. That
kiln and hydrator produce 300 tons per day
of quick and hydrate lime.
A second rotary lime kiln was erected in
1978 and produces 600 tons of pebble quick
lime each day.
Chemical Lime, Inc., in 1982 built the first
coal-fired upright or vertical lime kiln in the
United States. Its present capacity is 600 tons
daily of pebble quick lime.
Currently Chemical Lime, Inc., employs
135 persons and operates a fleet of 35 trucks
that covers the five-state area of Texas, New
Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana,
as well as sometimes Colorado and Missis-
sippi.
President of the company is Tom Cham-
bers, of Fort Worth, a son of Dr. J.O.
Chambers.
Clifton men who are in charge of plant
operations are Stuart Schasteen, plant man-
ager; Charles Cash, vice-president of sales;
Donald L. Finstad, treasurer and comptrol-
ler; David Hoffman, vice-president of techni-
cal services; Gary Waller, director of person-
nel and safety; and Jerry Sadler, trucking
superintendent.
In 1906 Clifton's fire disaster brought
about the formation the following spring of
the first Clifton Volunteer Fire Department.
In the beginning it had at its disposal only one
horse-drawn fire wagon.
Clifton's Volunteer Fire Department now
has three rural trucks, two pumper trucks, an
equipment truck, and an equipment and
rescue van, plus many other modern types of
fire-fighting equipment. It also has hats,
coats, and boots to outfit 35 firemen and 30
pagers by which they can be summoned to
respond to fires.
Officers of Clifton's Fire Department are
Jamie Zander, chief; Harold Kettler, 1st
assistant; Clyde Seljos, 2nd assistant; Buddy
Bekkelund, Raydell Watley, and Jim Bryant,
captains; Fred Low, president; Jim Bryant,
1st vice-president; Brian Gillaspie, 2nd vice-
president; James Fuller, secretary-treasurer;
Hugo Anz, assistant secretary-treasurer;
Buddy Bekkelund, Clyde Seljos, and Mark
Whitney, working trustees; and Raydell
Watley, Fred Low, and Charles Jorgenson,
retirement trustees.
Advertisers in the June 23, 1905, Clifton
Record were: P.E. Schow and Brothers, Oscar
J. Rea (grocery and implement company),First National Bank (with capital stock of
$40,000.00), Dr. C.M. Moore's Store, P.N.
Reeder (harness, etc.), Swenson and Hurst
(dry goods), W.H. Snell and Son (grocery),
Lockett and Son (real estate), Tennison and
White (livery stable), G.W. Collins (dentist),
P.F. Gould (dentist), Clifton Lumber Com-
pany, Drs. Carpenter and Scott Clinic, and
Cureton and Cureton (Meridian lawyers).
Other prominent long-time dentists in
Clifton during the years were Dr. Thomas
Gillespie and Dr. G.W. Collins, Jr. Practicing
dentistry here now and having done so for anumber of years are Dr. Troy C. Eggen and
Dr. Ernest Erickson.
One of the new businesses added when "old
town" Clifton moved to "new town" was a
lumber yard by Mr. Kidd, of Waco, with C.A.
Poulson acting as manager. Mr. Poulson was
a prominent Clifton resident until his death.
Other lumber firms serving Clifton during
the years have included L.D. Townsend's
Clifton Lumber Company, O.E. Schow Lum-
ber Company, O.E. Boettcher Lumber and
Grain Company, Wm. Cameron and Com-
pany which has evolved into the current
Boise Cascade Building Materials Center,
Central Texas Lumber Company, and Clifton
Lumber Company. The last three named still
are in business here.
Insurance firms over the years have been
those operated by H.W. Herring, Jenson and
Tucker, L.E. Tennison, Jack C. Tucker, Aars
and Dahl, J. Bruce Parks, Germania Mutual,
Texas Farm Bureau, and Aars and Nelson.
Recently three new ones have come into
being-Clifton Insurance Agency, Central
Texas Insurance, and Farmers Insurance
Group.
L.E. Tennison and Jack C. Tucker, in
addition to the insurance agencies they
operated for such long periods, also acted as
public accountants. Clifton now has two
certified public accounts, Jess G. Hammock,
Jr. and Richard D. Lundberg, who have
served this area for a number of years.
Since shortly after automobiles became a
public commodity, Clifton has had numerous
Bosque County car dealerships. Among the
most active dealers for years were A.G.
Gilliam, Voy G. Fort, J.L. Standefer, Sr., E.E.
Stewart, and J.L. Standefer, Jr.
Mr. Gilliam, Clifton's first independent car
dealer, sold Ford Motor Company products
from 1914 until 1938, at which time he
relinquished the Ford dealership. However,
he remained an active businessman here until
his death in 1951 as a cotton and grain buyer,
a major tire company distributor, and a
private loan operator.
Also associated with Mr. Gilliam were his
son, Phil Gilliam, and his son-in-law, O.R.
Jenson. They later held Plymouth and
DeSoto dealerships, and Mr. Jenson re-
mained in the used car business here for 36
years and until his recent retirement.
Shortly after A.G. Gilliam stopped selling
Ford products, E.E. Stewart became Ford
and Mercury dealer and continued in that
capacity for the next 35 years. He now has left
retirement to sell Fords and Mercurys for a
recently opened new Ford Motor Company
dealership in Clifton owned by Harold
Schnorrenberg, of Copperas Cove.
Voy G. Fort, who also operated a garage,
for a long while had Dodge and Plymouth
agencies in Clifton.
For a period of more than 40 years, J.L.
Standefer, Sr. and later his son, J.L. Stande-fer, Jr., owned Standefer Chevrolet Com-
pany. Now the Chevrolet dealership is oper-
ated by Carl Schmidt as Schmidt Chevrolet-
Chrysler.
Wayne Gloff, who holds dealerships for
Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac cars and
GMC trucks, has served Clifton and surroun-
ding areas in that regard for a number of
years.
Early long-time operators of tailor shops in
Clifton were: W.V. Kugle, S.M. Ringness, and
Mr. and Mrs. Dock Martin.
In March, 1944, J.C. Kincheloe bought
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Bosque County History Book Committee. Bosque County: Land and People (A History of Bosque County, Texas), book, 1985; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth91038/m1/40/?q=campbell: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library.