Brooks Blacksmith Shop
Meadow, Terry County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The town of Meadow developed in the early 20th century, moving to meet the railroad in this location in 1917. In 1922, O.L. Puthuff built a blacksmith shop on this site. By that time, brothers Leslie and Herschel F. Brooks, Alabama natives, had moved to Meadow. World War I veterans, the brothers built and implemented water drilling equipment. Leslie wed Audrey Maddox, and her father, John, bought the shop in 1923. John and Leslie became partners in the three-generation Brooks Blacksmith Shop. In the mid-1950s, Leslie's two older sons took over the business. The shop, which closed in 1996, provided vital services to area farms and ranches, and was a social gathering place for Meadow residents. (2004)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The town of Meadow shifted to this spot to meet the railroad in 1917, and by 1922 a blacksmith shop stood on the site. Alabama-born, World War I veteran brothers Leslie and Herschel Brooks brought water-drilling know-how to the area, and through marriage and partnership the Brooks Blacksmith Shop became a three-generation family enterprise. Serving farms and ranches until it closed in 1996, the shop was also a gathering place at the heart of the community.
Why it matters
The blacksmith shop is a reminder of how skilled trades kept early-20th-century farm country running — and doubled as the social hub of a small West Texas town.
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Related people
- · Leslie Brooks
- · Herschel F. Brooks
- · John Maddox
Themes & tags
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