The J. A. Baker Store

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The J. A.

Baker Store in Floyd County. Opened in 1894, and still in the hands of the founding family when this marker was written. That right there is a story before the story even starts.

James Artemas Baker was born near Dallas in 1859. He made his way to Hamilton, where he lived from 1879 all the way to July of 1890, and then he picked up and moved out to what would become Lockney. Now, Baker didn't just move somewhere.

He helped found somewhere. He's credited as the founder of this store and the town of Lockney both. He came in as acting postmaster in 1893, and then by appointment he held that post from 1894 through 1901.

That's a man the community was leaning on from the start. He freighted goods across the South Plains, and with the help of his wife Alice, he ran this store. Hardware.

Sundries. Dry goods. Groceries.

Whatever the South Plains needed, Baker was trying to have it on the shelf. And here's the detail that tells you everything about what kind of outfit this was in the early days. When folks needed a safe place to keep their money and there was no bank in sight, they turned to Baker's store safe.

The whole town used it for banking. The whole town. Now, the original frame building didn't survive.

It burned. But in 1914, this structure, the one standing when the marker was placed, was erected in its place. Stone and mortar where wood once stood.

James Artemas Baker died in 1917, but the store carried on. One of the oldest mercantile houses on the Texas South Plains, still in the family. Some things outlast the people who build them, and sometimes that's exactly the point.

What the marker says

Opened 1894; one of the Texas South Plains' oldest mercantile houses still owned by founding family. James Artemas Baker (1859-1917), founder of this store and town of Lockney, was born near Dallas and lived in Hamilton from 1879 to July 1890, when he moved here. Acting postmaster in 1893, and serving by appointment 1894-1901, he freighted and, with help of his wife Alice, ran this store, selling hardware, sundries, dry goods, groceries. Town also relied on Baker's store safe for banking in the early days. After frame building burned, this structure was erected 1914. (1971)