DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — J. W. Harrison and Son, out of Lamar County.
Now settle in, because this is a story about a man who showed up with a hammer and ended up shaping a city. John Winn Harrison was born in 1865, and in 1886 he came to Paris, Texas, all the way from Alabama. He started as a carpenter — the kind of work that's honest, unglamorous, and tells you everything about a man's patience.
For several years he swung that hammer, learned the bones of a city, and somewhere in the 1890s he joined forces with a man named Cornelius G. Caviness to form a construction company. A partnership.
Two names, one vision, plenty of work. Then, about 1913, Harrison stepped out on his own as an independent contractor. And you might wonder what kind of test a newly independent builder faces.
Well, Paris gave him an answer in 1916 — a disastrous fire tore through the city. And when the smoke cleared and Paris needed rebuilding, John Winn Harrison played a major part in putting it back together. Now here's where the story gets its second heartbeat.
Barney Harrison — born in 1898, John Winn's son — joined his father in business in 1917. Just a year after that fire had reshaped the work ahead of them both. And in 1919, the firm made it official: J.
W. Harrison and Son. Father and son, name on the door, city to build.
And build they did. Homes. Schools.
The city hall. The public library. Structure after structure raised up in Paris, Texas, by these two men.
Barney Harrison carried the work until 1954. John Winn had passed in 1940. But the buildings they left behind — well, those are still holding up their end of the bargain.
What the marker says
John Winn Harrison (1865-1940) came to Paris from Alabama in 1886. Working as a carpenter for several years, he formed a construction company in partnership with Cornelius G. Caviness in the 1890s. Becoming an independent contractor about 1913, he played a major part in rebuilding the city after a disastrous fire in 1916. Barney Harrison (1898-1954) joined his father in business in 1917, and the firm of J. W. Harrison & Son was formed in 1919. The company built many public and private structures in Paris, including homes, schools, the city hall, and the public library. (1987)