Submitted by Dr. Duane Hale
Containing A Directory and Description and Summary of Various Advantages Once again credit must be given to the late J. C. McDaniel for locating a handbook printed in 1889 for Eastland County, Texas. This rare copy was found in the Texas State Library, Austin, Texas. I had been looking for a list of businesses in Cisco, Texas, before the Cyclone of 1893. Specifically, what was the name of Dean Drug before 1893? When it was purchased by the Deans in 1909, at first it was called the Dean-Jones Drug Store, and when it shut its doors, it was the oldest continuous business in Eastland County.
This rare reference handbook for Eastland dating back to 1889, may not have answered the question about what Dean Drug was called before the Cyclone, because it does not give addresses of the three drug stores that existed at that time. Which one of the three was it? It is known that W. T. Caldwell Drugs and Books was the same W. T. Caldwell that was postmaster of Red Gap and also postmaster of Cisco in 1882, but he also had sold drugs in his store at Red Gap. The second choice is Martin and Maxwell Drugs and Books. It is known that O. T. Maxwell ran the
