Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, founded the Nocona Boot Company in the small community of Nocona.
Family life
Enid Justin married Julius Stelzer in 1915; the couple had a child in 1916. The baby girl, Anna Jo, died in 1918, the same year that Enid's father died. Enid and Julius
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
d in 1934. In 1940, she married Harry Whitman, and they divorced in 1945.
Nocona Boot Company
Her father was the famed boot-maker
Herman Joseph Justin Herman Joseph Justin (April 7, 1859 to July 14, 1918) was born in Lafayette, Indiana. Justin's father's profession, cigar making, didn't suit H. J., so he moved to Texas in 1877 at the age of 18. First settling in Gainesville, Texas at a time when ...
, who cobbled his first pair of boots while working in a Texas barber shop. A student of the boot-making craft herself, Enid opened the Nocona Boot Company in 1925 after her brothers, John, Sr., Avis, and Earl, decided to move her father's business to Fort Worth, Texas.
I designed my first pair of boots when I was 14; I got the idea for the pattern from a velvet-brocaded couch.--Enid Justin at the
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is located in Fort Worth, Texas, US. Established in 1975, it is dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage and pioneering fortitude. The museum is an edu ...
Enid Justin launched her company with employees from her father's business. Her husband, Julius, served as president, and Enid worked many jobs including shipping clerk, bill collector, and salesperson. The discovery of
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
in Nocona's North Field in 1926 brought new business to the bootmakers, who supplied lace-up boots to oil field workers. The company prospered, even during the Great Depression and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
period and moved to a new . facility on
U.S. Route 82
U.S. Route 82 (US 82) is an east–west United States highway in the Southern United States. Created on July 1, 1931 across central Mississippi and southern Arkansas, US 82 eventually became a 1,625-mile (2,615 km) route extending from ...
in 1947.
Nocona Boot Company became one of the top five boot-makers in the country as a result of Justin's intrepid
work ethic
Work ethic is a belief that work and diligence have a moral benefit and an inherent ability, virtue or value to strengthen character and individual abilities. It is a set of values centered on importance of work and manifested by determination o ...
, diligence, and devotion to her employees. The company expanded in the late 1970s and early 1980, having opened factories in Vernon and Gainesville, Texas.
In 1981, Enid Justin merged the company with her brothers' Justin Industries. Throughout the 1980s, she continued to devote her energies to civic actions and causes. She donated to expand the Nocona City Park and to underwrite both boys' and girls'
Little League
Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizationJustin Industries closed the Nocona Boot Company plant in Nocona and consolidated all boot-making at
El Paso
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
, thus ending more than a century of quality boot-making in Nocona.
An exhibit at the
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is located in Fort Worth, Texas, US. Established in 1975, it is dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage and pioneering fortitude. The museum is an edu ...
in Fort Worth honors Justin's contribution to the boot-making industry.Enid Justin exhibit,
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is located in Fort Worth, Texas, US. Established in 1975, it is dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage and pioneering fortitude. The museum is an edu ...
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...