In a League of Their Own

As Industries Shrink, some Businesses Hold Strong

by Mallory Laurel

How has the industry changed since the business first opened? Every applicant for the Texas Treasure Business Award must answer this question. From obsolescence of catalogs to the proliferation of online shopping, the introduction of robotics, or the shift away from in-person client communication, rarely has a business escaped the 20th century without modernizing in one way or another. Herein lies the secret, for better or worse, to staying in business long enough to seal your legacy as a historic Texas business: adaptation.

Don’t be fooled by the veneer of time. A business may look like it did 50, 75, or in rare cases, 100 years ago, but under the hood you’ll find new parts. With each new decade, some radical shift in the industry escorts another batch of businesses into oblivion, and the list of those that remain grows ever shorter. It takes more than grit to make it to 50.

To comprehend this, it helps to see how short that list is. This is one of the intended impacts of our new effort to recognize businesses within a single category or theme. Sometimes a thing isn’t precious until it’s rare, so we’ll tell you exactly how many historic barbecue joints or taquerias still exist, for example, just to let it sink in.

Keep an eye out for these new lists on TexasTimeTravel.com, the THC’s one-stop-shop for heritage travelers in Texas. We’ll continue honoring everything from historic bakeries to historic movie theaters in hopes that we can stop that list in its tracks, and maybe even add a few more as the years go by. Find many historic businesses across the state at texastimetravel.com/travel-by-theme/historic-businesses.

“Can participation in this program help raise the profile of your community as a historic destination? Yes,” she says. “But the beating heart of this program is being able to say to these hard-working business owners, ‘Something you started is now part of the historical record. Your life’s work will always be remembered.’”

Laurel recalls that she spent a long time trying to find the right literary quote to capture the magic of a historic business for the program’s brochure. She finally came across one from The Wind in the Willows: “But it was good to think he had this to come back to, this place which was all his own, these things which were so glad to see him again and could always be counted upon for the same simple welcome.”

She elaborates, “We often have to learn the hard way how important a place is to the community. We learned this lesson too many times during COVID when businesses were shuttered left and right, and all that remained was the sinking feeling that we had lost something more than a good or service. When we talk about the character of a place or a community’s identity, these businesses, the ones we grew up with, are what come to mind.”

In other words, these places are home.

“That’s why we should be doing everything we can to uplift these businesses, preserve their history, express our gratitude for their place in our lives, and keep them around for as long as we can!” Laurel says.

To learn more about the TTBA, visit thc.texas.gov/ttba

A modified version of this article previously appeared in the summer 2022 issue of the Texas Historical Commission’s The Medallion.