Humble Businesses

This chair was used in a barber shop in the 300 block on Main Street during the 30s, 40s, and 50s. It was first used in John Printous Smith Sr.'s shop, and also used by Jake Shuler.

This straight razor, hair tonic bottle, thinning scissors and metal comb were used in Jake Shuler’s Barber Shop. The Ray-Ban glasses were used by Jake Shuler.

This weight box from the late 1800s was used for pharmaceutical weights at the Humble Pharmacy. The ice cream dipper is from the 1920s.

In 1907, Ross Sterling bought the Armstrong Bank in Humble. This bank was failing because of the Panic of 1907 and he was able to buy it for $1,000. He rechartered the bank into a state bank.

Sterling built a brick building for the bank in 1908. It was the first business built of brick in Humble and was located next to the present-day Humble City Café (where the Masonic Lodge now stands). This building, along with 2 ½ blocks of downtown Humble, was destroyed by fire on February 14, 1912.

The second building, at 218 E. Main Street and directly across from the old Humble Museum location, was built in 1912 to replace the original building.

The bank deposit book from Humble State Bank belonged to Leo R. Ewing (1954). The savings deposit book #1055 book was issued 5/20/1924 to J.M. Mize. Coin Bank #1239 belonged to Mrs. Martha O’Connor.

Also pictured are checks & receipts from Humble State Bank.

This Humble Grocery Store Seal was used in the first grocery store owned by Mr. O.D. & John Frank.

This plate is an example of the calendar plates with the J. Grossman's logo on it. The scissors were inscribed with J. Grossman's. The receipt is from March of 1944 and includes a note from Mrs. Grossman to Mrs. R.S. Campbell, "Come over and see me some time. Home to my friends now and always."

This shoe fitting stool was used in Kattar’s Department Store around 1910. Mrs. Kattar, donor of the stool, began working for Mr. Kattar in 1918.

This set of furniture was used in the Humble Pharmacy from some time before 1918, when H.K. Pursley bought the store, until about 1947. Originally the table had a varnished wooden top and chair seats.

This stool was used at the counter in the Humble Pharmacy Rexall Store.

This is an old style, Chandler and Price open platen printing press. This particular machine was manufactured in 1886 (the same year as the founding of Humble, Texas). Chandler & Price was founded in 1881 in Cleveland, Ohio by Harrison T. Chandler and WIlliam H. Price. They manufactured machinery for printers, including a series of hand-fed platen jobbing presses, as well as an automatic feeder for these presses (the Rice Feeder), paper cutters, book presses, and assorted equipment.

Printing and early newspapers are an important source of information for us when researching Humble’s past. The earliest newspapers published in Humble were the Oil City News and the Humble Echo.

Oil City News: published by Dyson Lunn, the Oil City News was published in Humble starting in 1909. In 1935, the name was changed to Harris County Sun.

Humble Echo: started in 1942, published by Emory Beaumont and later by John Pundt.

Other papers that have brought news to local residents over the years include the Humble Observer, the Humble News-Messenger, Community Impact Newspaper, and the Tribune.