I don't have an exact date for this old photo, but it was taken in Brownwood, Texas, probably around the late 1890's or early 1900's. My great great paternal grandfather, Joe Hicks, was quite the entrepreneur, and owned several businesses throughout his life. This was one of his first endeavors.
Not sure if there is a connection, but his daughter, my great grandmother, was named "Georgia" (notice the Georgia House rooms advertisement just under the roofline.I love finding the star at the very top of the roof apex as well.) She was born in 1890, so it's possible Grandfather Hicks had another relative (mother, sister?) named Georgia. I don't have much info on him in terms of his parents or siblings; my Hicks line pretty much stops with him.
From what I've been able to learn, he was quite the character. Too bad for his future generations that he didn't drill for black gold instead of dealin' dry goods and turnips. He might have been a regular Oil Baron given his propensity to turn a profit.
2 comments:
Love the photos!!!! I hope to have a bunch of old family photos after I go visit my stepmom.
It looks like something right out of Lonesome Dove. Maybe that's a lead as to who "Georgia" was!
There's an old sign in Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle that advertises rooms for 75 cents. It probably dates from 1898 or so, when the Alaskan Gold Rush caused a boom. Local merchants outfitted the prospectors who debarked to Alaska from the port here.
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