Hooks Abstract Company

Duane's take

Here's how the marker tells it, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Now, Hardin County has seen its share of booms and busts, timber barons and oil rushes, fortunes made and lost before the ink dried on a deed. But through all of it, one business kept its doors open.

The Hooks Abstract Company was established in 1902, and it is thought to be the oldest continuously operating business in Hardin County. Sit with that for a moment. Not the oldest building, not the oldest name on a sign, but the oldest business still running.

That is a long time to be useful. The company was named for its major investor, J. B.

Hooks, and right from the start it had a clear purpose: land ownership research for oil and timber companies. In that part of Texas, knowing exactly who owned what piece of ground was not a minor matter. It was everything.

Co-founder Amos Rich operated the company in those early years, keeping things moving until 1906, when J. A. McKim, Sr., stepped in and assumed management of the firm.

The McKim name would prove to have some staying power of its own. Decades passed. The business kept on.

Then in the 1950s, J. A. McKim, Jr., and his wife added title insurance services, growing what the company could offer.

And in the 1960s, the two of them purchased the business outright. In time, their son succeeded them, and he made one change worth noting: the name of the firm became Hooks Title and Abstract Co. New name, same roots going all the way back to 1902.

Some things in Texas just refuse to quit.

What the marker says

Established in 1902, the Hooks Abstract Company is thought to be the oldest continuously operating business in Hardin County. Named for its major investor J. B. Hooks, the company initially provided land ownership research for oil and timber companies. Co-founder Amos Rich operated the company until 1906 when J. A. McKim, Sr., assumed management of the firm. In the 1950s title insurance services were added by J. A. McKim, Jr., and his wife, who purchased the business in the 1960s. Their son succeeded them, changing the name of the firm to Hooks Title and Abstract Co.