DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Lex Word and the Bon Ton — and friend, this one's worth every mile. Now, some stores sell goods. Some stores sell groceries.
But every once in a while, a store becomes the beating heart of a whole town — and that's exactly what happened right here in Kyle, Hays County, Texas. Wallace Alexander Word — everybody called him Lex — came into this world in 1896 under a shadow right from the start. His father, William Alexander Word, died two months before Lex was even born.
His mother, Mamie Sledge Word, raised that boy, and Kyle raised him the rest of the way. When Lex graduated from Kyle High School in 1913, he was the only young man in a class of six. One fella, five young women, and a diploma.
Not a bad start. From there, Lex went to work in his uncle's bank over in Mathis, then on to Texas A&M College, then off to serve in World War I. When he came back to Texas, he managed stores in Grayburg and Huntsville, learning the trade from the inside out.
Then in 1926, he made his move. He came home to Kyle and partnered with Alex Kercheville and Jack Sledge to open a general store and grocery. They called it the Bon Ton.
The Bon Ton started out in the historic Masonic building — good bones, good address — but it wasn't long before it moved to this very location. And at about that same time, Lex bought out his partners. The Bon Ton was his now.
In 1929, Lex married Louise Gossett — everybody called her Bobby — a Taylor native born in 1904 who had come to Kyle to teach school. She would live to the year 2000. Together, the Words became pillars of this town, active in the First Baptist Church, civic leaders both.
Now here's where the story gets interesting, and a little dark. The Great Depression hit, and downtown businesses were closing left and right. Most merchants were pulling back, hunkering down, hoping to weather the storm.
Lex Word expanded. He added a feed store and a hatchery to the Bon Ton right in the teeth of the Depression. That took either extraordinary faith or extraordinary stubbornness — and in Texas, those two things are hard to tell apart.
Then came 1934, and a tragedy this building cannot forget. A fatal fire here killed a man named Cal Clark — Big Boy, they called him. The store was rebuilt.
Lex didn't walk away. And the Bon Ton kept growing into something bigger than commerce. In the 1950s, Lex and Bobby donated space in the back of the store for a reading room — and that reading room became Kyle's first library.
Think about that. The town's first library lived in the back of a grocery store. All through the thirties, Lex was everywhere Kyle needed him.
When Kyle State Bank closed in 1932, Lex helped reorganize the town's only depository — it came back as Citizens State Bank. He opened an adjacent implement store. He helped restart the cooperative cotton gin.
The man ran a general store the way some people run a whole county. For decades, the Bon Ton was where Kyle gathered — for goods, for news, for community. It held that name even after new ownership took over.
And then, in 2002, fire came again. This time, it destroyed the building entirely. Lex Word himself had been gone since 1982.
Bobby followed in 2000. They didn't see the end of the building — but they saw the best of it. In 2006, the City of Kyle built a new city hall right here on this spot.
So where a general store once anchored a community, the community's own government now stands. Some locations just refuse to stop mattering. This is one of them.
What the marker says
For generations this site was the commercial and social heart of the community. Wallace Alexander "Lex" Word (1896-1982) was born in Kyle to William Alexander and Mamie (Sledge) Word, but tragically his father died two months before Lex was born. After graduating from Kyle High School in 1913 as the only male in a class of six, Lex worked in his uncle's bank in Mathis. He later attended Texas A&M College and served in World War I, managing stores in Grayburg and Huntsville upon his return to Texas. In 1926, Word moved back to Kyle and partnered with Alex Kercheville and Jack Sledge to open the Bon Ton, a general store and grocery. Initially located in the historic Masonic building, it soon moved to this location. At about the same time, Word bought out his partners. In 1929, Lex married Taylor native Louise "Bobby" Gossett (1904-2000), who came to Kyle to teach school. He expanded the store in the Great Depression, adding a feed store and hatchery at a time when many downtown businesses closed. A fatal fire here killed Cal "Big Boy" Clark in 1934, but the store was rebuilt. For decades the Bon Ton was a primary community gathering place. The Words were church and civic leaders, active in the First Baptist Church. When Kyle State Bank closed in 1932, Lex helped reorganize the town's only depository as Citizens State Bank. He also opened an adjacent implement store and helped restart the cooperative cotton gin in the 1930s. Lex and Bobby donated space in the back of the Bon Ton for a reading room that was the town's first library in the 1950s. The store retained the Bon Ton name under new ownership until fire destroyed the building in 2002. In 2006, the City of Kyle built a new city hall at this location. (2007)