DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Harman-Toles Elevator out in Swisher County. Now, most grain elevators don't have much of a story worth stoppin' for. But this one — this one's got layers.
It starts with a man named Holland E. Toles, who opened a grain elevator in this area back in 1926. Quiet beginning.
Just a man, some grain, and the flat Texas sky. Twelve years go by, and in 1938, Vernon Harman comes alongside him as a partner. The Harman-Toles operation is born.
But Holland E. Toles — born in 1894, died in 1941 — didn't live to see what came next. After his passing, Harman didn't close up shop.
He formed a new partnership, this time with John F. Toles and Holl Ed Toles. The name stayed.
The work continued. And the world was about to demand a whole lot more of them. World War II.
Increased irrigation out on the High Plains. A federal grain program. All three of those forces converging at once created a need for storage facilities larger than anything this corner of Swisher County had seen.
So on March 1, 1945, construction began on a six-unit concrete elevator right here. Now here's where the story takes a turn you might not see coming. The labor — all of it — was provided by the U.S. government.
And those laborers? Fifty Italian prisoners of war, brought over from a camp near Hereford, working under the provisions of the Geneva Convention. In the middle of a world war, in the Texas Panhandle, Italian POWs were pourin' concrete and raisin' up an elevator that still stands today.
The project was completed on July 10, 1945. Four months, give or take. Fifty men far from home.
And a grain elevator that outlasted the war, the partnerships, and every one of the men who built it. That's the kind of thing a marker's for.
What the marker says
Holland E. Toles (1894-1941) opened a grain elevator in this area in 1926, and was joined by Vernon Harman in 1938. After Toles' death, Harman formed a new partnership with John F. and Holl Ed Toles. World War II, increased irrigation, and a federal grain program created a need for larger storage facilities. On March 1, 1945, construction was begun on this six-unit concrete elevator. Labor was provided by the U.S. government, utilizing 50 Italian prisoners of war from a camp near Hereford, under Geneva Convention provisions. The project was completed on July 10, 1945. (1974)