Thinking about the Skaggs building, located on the corner of 7th & Broadway Streets, in Plainview, Texas.
Herald Managing Editor Doug McDonough
When Henry E. and Nora Skaggs moved to a young Plainview in 1901, they already could see its potential.
A school teacher by trade, Skaggs soon opened his own business H.E. Skaggs Realty Company which was located in the Slaton Building.
In a 1976 interview with Ramona Roberts and Lois Bowles for "Hale County Facts and Folklore Vol. 1," Jack Skaggs described his father as "always a Plainview booster. He thought it was a great country with great possibilities."
To those ends, he bought the lots at the southwest corner of Seventh and Broadway in 1921 and 1923 with plans to replace the existing sheet-metal store buildings with a modern office complex.
Unfortunately, he died May 28, 1926, in Baylor Hospital in Dallas following gallbladder surgery. Coincidentally, a close friend, business associate and pallbearer J.H. Slaton, died 10 days later again after gallbladder surgery.
But Skaggs' dream of a modern multi-story business building in downtown Plainview did not die with him.
Skaggs' widow, Nora Lemons Skaggs, quickly moved forward with her husband's dream.
According to Jack Skaggs, his mother worked with architects Kerr and Walsh of Amarillo to finalize plans and blueprints and with contractors L.D. Harrison and Col. R.P. Smyth for the actual construction.
"I don't remember the exact starting date of construction, but the building was completed in August 1928," Jack Skaggs recalled in the 1976 interview. "Basement excavation was more of a problem then than it is now, so that took a good while. They didn't have giant earthmoving equipment then. The equipment was much smaller."
During construction, most of Seventh Street and part of Broadway were blocked and at times crowds of spectators would gather to watch the work progress.
"Richard Bienst from Denver was foreman," Jack Skaggs recalled. "He had a big German police dog who stayed with him all the time."
One of the principal tenants instrumental in the building's construction was Plainview National Bank (formerly Third National Bank). As soon as the building was completed, the bank moved in and the Skaggs Building had its formal opening.
Original Skaggs Building tenants included Dr. C.D. Wofford Sr., Dr. W.J. Loyd, Dr. Don P. Jones, Dr. E. Lee Dye, Dr. P.B. Bernt, Dr. Kirby Clements, attorney P.B. Randolph, Joiner and Cook Law Firm, attorney Meade Griffin, Dr. E.F. McClendon and Knoohuizen, Boyd and Davenport. Western Union moved in shortly after the building was finished.
Amarillo Tile and Marble Co. had to bring in specially trained workmen to install the marble in the building.
In 1955, the building was completely air-conditioned and a new elevator was installed.
Jack Skaggs died in 1997. His son, John, who now lives in Amarillo, recently recalled that his first "real" job was elevator operator in the Skaggs Building.
"I worked afternoons after school and during the summer," John Skaggs explained.
"I heard lots of jokes about elevators. One I remember well, because I heard it for what seems like a thousand times, was 'You sure have your ups and downs, don't you?'
"I always chuckled politely and smiled as my dad taught me to always be polite to the tenants and their customers," he explained.
Nora Skaggs died in 1951 and Jack Skaggs and his sister, Mamie Hartley, sold the building and adjoining parking lots in 1976 to Craig B. Silverthorne and the law firm of LaFont, Tunnell, Formby, LaFont and Hamilton.
Silverthorne said he and the law firm continue to each hold half-interest in the property.
One of the more interesting items in the lobby is the original antique brass mailbox. It's attached to the wall beside the elevator and linked to mail drops on each floor by a long tube.
"A couple of years ago, the post office sent us a letter saying they were going to take it out," Silverthorne said. "We told them they better not do anything to it, because they didn't own it. It had been bought and paid for and installed by the building and not by the post office.
"Once they checked their records and found out that we knew what we were talking about, they decided to leave it alone," Silverthorne said.
Current Skaggs Building tenants include LaFont, Tunnell, Formby, LaFont and Hamilton, L.L.P.; Easterling Acquisitions; Tom Aday, pharmacist; Terry McEachern, attorney-at-law; Texas State Board of Pardons and Parole; John Peck Insurance; Plainview Symphony Orchestra; Cottonwood Financial; Michelle Attebury, attorney-at-law; and Plainview Feedyard, Clara Silverthorne Estate, Jordan Silverthorne, R.Q. Silverthorne Estate and Craig B. Silverthorne.
Today in 2023, the Skaggs Building is held by a private entity, Plainview Downtown Restoration, Inc. The non-profit has plans to renovate the building.