Early Industry & Business

Early Industry and Business. Emerging Industry, also, People. Some of the first industries in Hunt County were agriculture and business related. Greenville had a wagon factory that was south of downtown where local blacksmiths worked with wood-workers to construct wagons, instead of ordering them from Northern factories. The Armistead and Ende Hardware stores were in the 2600 block of Johnson Street, where locals could purchase farm and hardware goods as well as the Mitchell Wagon or the Studebaker Wagon., Edward Popper came to Greenville in 1880 after emigrating from Austria-Hungary. He opened a wholesale grocery store at the intersection of Lee and Wesley Streets. Popper's business was considered "one of the best wholesale houses in North Texas.", As the cotton industry was growing and becoming increasingly mechanized, K.L. Lowenstein opened a machinery store on South Stonewall Street soon after he arrived in 1881. By 1890 Lowenstein was one of the most successful suppliers of agricultural machinery in north Texas., As the cotton industry continued to grow, Greenville families had more disposable income. This led to more stores selling luxury goods like the Schwartz Ladies Bazaar, opened by Lazar and Sophia Schwartz in 1895., Sam Glassman and his wife Anna left Russia in 1897, making their way to Greenville in 1900. After being in Greenville one year, Sam Glassman had earned enough money to open a dry goods store on the town square. He began his business career with a small inventory and eventually extended his business interests into hides, furs, and scrap metal. Charles and Al Glassman took over the dry goods store in 1921. The dry good store was closed during the Great Depression, but Al Glassman was able to keep the scrap metal business open and even expanded into rayon and oxygen., Greenville would also provide Polish immigrant Sam Swartz with a tremendous economic opportunity. In 1919 Swartz opened the Sam Swartz clothing store, housing his family in the back of the small store. Swartz later bought a neighboring building, allowing him the space to expand his clothing inventory. By the time Swartz retired in 1973, the business had expanded to five times its original size. The store employed 25 clerks and department managers and would hire even more during busy retail seasons. Swartz was also one of the only shopkeepers on the town square who, during segregation, allowed Black customers to enter through the front door instead of the back., Reverse Side , Alexander Bryan , Little is known about Mary Jim Morris' father, Alexander Bryan, except that he patented a mole trap in 1882 and an animal trap in September 1884. This accomplishment was particularly remarkable for Blacks during the 1800s. Mary Jim Morris was the first woman school principal in Hunt County and the first Black person in Hunt County to graduate with a four-year Bachelor of Arts degree. She graduated from Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College in 1934., William Jernigan and Josiah Jackson , William Jernigan and Josiah Jackson opened the first business (mercantile store) on Washington St. in Commerce in 1872. William and his wife Sarah Newman Jernigan had moved to Hunt County from Arkansas in 1856. They opened a store in a small community called Cow Hill, which preceded the town of Commerce., By 1872 a new bridge was built over the South Sulphur River, making possible a more direct route from Sulphur Springs to Bonham. Travelers on the road to Greenville began to by-pass Cow Hill, so Jernigan decided to build a store on land he had recently purchased. The store became the trading center for settlers who lived in the area. Jernigan also began to purchase land around the store to sell to newcomers. Over time, the village of Cow Hill was abandoned, and the new store location became the town of Commerce. The town name 'Commerce' came from a trip Jernigan made to Jefferson to buy goods for his store. When he was asked where to send the goods, Jernigan had no answer. "Well" said the wholesaler, "How about just billing it to Commerce?" Jernigan agreed. So, by capitalizing the first letter of the word, the new community had a name. Commerce would be incorporated on September 25, 1885. William Jernigan died in 1880. His wife Sarah lived in the home her husband had built until her death in 1887., Captions , (Photo #1) Alexander Bryan's Animal trap patent , (Photo #2) Downtown Commerce, 1896