Breckenridge businesses are established

The first Mercantile Store was erroneously reported in historic records as “The Ward Bros.,” who were reportedly the first owners of a Mercantile Store in Breckenridge.

In the fall of 1876, just after the town of Breckenridge was platted, J.A. Morris, father of Mrs. Greenwood, erected a Mercantile Store on the corner lot, where E. Walker St. and N. Breckenridge Ave. meet and where the Segar Hotel was later located at that corner and is now where the Gary Trammel law offices are located on the northeast corner.

Later that spring, N.S. Greenwood opened a second Mercantile Store in Breckenridge, where the Fulwiler Motor Co. later stood, which was at 302- 304 W. Walker St. This is where the Breckenridge InterBank is currently located.

It wasn’t until September of 1883, that J.J. Ward and his son, J.M. Ward, the twin brother of John W. Ward, made their initial trek to Breckenridge to survey the possibilities of opening a Mercantile Store, which would be the third such store, not the first as previously reported in historic records. Subsequently, they brought their families to Breckenridge from Tennessee in late 1883 and opened the Ward Brothers Mercantile Store in early 1884.

The first rooming or boarding house was opened by Mr. and Mrs. J.A. Morris at the corner of W. Williams St. and S. Court Ave. in 1877. Shortly thereafter, Mr. and Mrs. Galloway opened another boarding house in that same block of W. Williams St. Visiting judges and attorneys were housed at their establishment along with the current District Attorney. The first hotel in Breck

The first hotel in Breckenridge was built by John Drake and was aptly named, the Drake Hotel. It was located on East Walker St., east of the Y.M.C.A. building. It was described as a modest two-story frame house, which later burned during the oil boom era (1921-27) when fires in town were prevalent. The biggest reason the Drake Hotel was wellknown was the first community Christmas tree was erected at the Drake Hotel and there was a large gathering of town folks at the event. Four years later, a cattleman purchased the structure, Capt. William McConnell, who lived on the second floor and opened a private school on the first floor, and it became the first formal school in Breckenridge.

A short time later, another hotel was opened, the Fisher Hotel by the proprietor, Dr. C. Fisher. It was located on the south side of West Walker St. and it was the third building west of S. Court Ave. It was a two-story frame building. The first floor was used for a Drug Store and the second floor had the hotel rooms. This hotel changed hands rather frequently and finally came into the hands of Pick Cambell, who later built another hotel on the south eastern corner of E. Walker St. and S. Breckenridge Ave. In 1926, that hotel had to be moved to make room for the Burch Hotel, which would be 10 stories high, with a roof-top garden and became the tallest structure west of Fort Worth and east of Abilene.

There also was another hotel constructed by Col. E. W. Rose, located on the southwest corner of the public square, which would be at the corner of N. Rose Ave. and W. Walker St.

Ground-breaking for the Burch Hotel commenced on Feb. 15, 1927. J.D. Sanders of Douthit Construction Co. of Houston which did the excavation work and O. J. Stallings was the construction superintendent from Dallas. It took 300 continuous working days, with no work stoppage due largely to the supervision of Stallings. The only delays could have been for construction materials, but Stallings would always shift workers to another area to keep on working. Originally, the plans called for a seven-story structure but were changed in the very early stages of construction of the foundation and before steel structures were put in place. Initially, the contract was for $258,000, which did not include the upper three floors. As a result, the original contract was adapted upwards to $375,000 to accommodate the additional three floors. Also, not included in the cost, was the furnishings and the lot where the hotel was located, which estimated the total cost of the Burch Hotel to be upwards of $500,000. The electrical contract

The electrical contract was let to a local contractor, Strawbridge Electrical Co. Leon Strawbridge had established his electrical company in Breckenridge in 1919, just in time for the big oil boom. Kelley Roofing and Metal Co. did all the sheet metal, roofing, skylights and gutters for the hotel. George Kelley had just moved to Breckenridge from Ennis in 1925 and established the Breckenridge Tin Shop. He bought out the current owner of a roofing co., W. P. Fulton, and re-named the company, Kelley Roofing and Metal Co.

The Burch Hotel finally opened for business, after several delays for furniture deliveries, on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 1928, with 95 to 105 rooms in the hotel. There were Simmons beds with Sealy mattresses in all the rooms. Most rooms had a tub and many also had showers. Records indicate that about 65% of the rooms had a full bath with a tub and shower with tiled floors and plush carpeting in the rooms.

The guest rooms were on the second through the seventh floor. The eighth floor was taken over by the Elks Lodge No. 1480 and the ninth and 10th floors were reserved for the Petroleum Club that shared the Roof Garden on the 10th floor when the hotel management required its’ use for conventions.

Additionally, there was a Coffee Shop on the first floor run by Mr. and Mrs. Joe Daniels, who had run a similar facility in Mineral Wells and were well-known as top-notch caterers. It could handle 66 customers at the same time. There also was a City Drug and the Phariss Brothers Barber Shop set on the main floor. The McLaren-Conley Cleaners managed to get a spot on the first floor as well and the Texas Music Co. also was established on the ground floor of the hotel, which offered a full-service hotel.

There were Terrazzo floors for the main lobby area and two large banquet rooms on other floors with polished hardwood floors for some smooth dancing. The Burch Hotel was known to hire large bands and full orchestras from Fort Worth to entertain their guests on special occasions.

The ground floor also had a large dining room to accommodate local civic organization banquets or conventions held in Breckenridge, which ranged from the Lions Club, Rotary Club and Elks to a parade by the Ku Klux Klan. Local members donned their attire as well, but one man was identified by his dog, which was bound and determined not to be excluded from the event by following at his heels. One can find humor in many mundane events.

Rustle out those older photos and refresh memories of the family stories and contact Jean Hayworth at office@breckenridgeamerican.com.