Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
1950s looms large in chronicle of growth, success
When the decade of the 1950s began, Rogers had a population of 4,951 citizens and was the largest city in Benton County. By 1960, the Rogers population had grown to 5,700 — an increase of only 749 people — and this was partly due to new areas annexed. So what did these folks do to make a living during this time? Rogers’ local industry in 1950 included Speas Vinegar Company, Rogers Vinegar Company, the Harris Bakery, Munsingwear, the Eversole Stave Mill, Carnation Milk and the House of Webster.
The Speas Company operated 23 vinegar plants all over the nation and in Mexico and Canada. The Speas plant was on North Second Street between Arkansas 12 and Chestnut Street; the building and water tower are still there. The Rogers Vinegar Company was started by Frank Strode in 1948. Frank’s daughter, Clarice Strode Moore, and Jack Cole eventually owned both vinegar plants in town. They were sold and both closed in 2001.
The Harris Bakery began in 1926, when Earl Harris and his sister, Effie Stires, opened a little bakery at 107 W. Walnut St.; the building and sign across the front still exist. The bakery prospered during the Great Depression when
many businesses were failing. In 1936, Harris built a new state-ofthe-art bakery at 114 W. Elm St. This bakery in the center of downtown provided bread, jobs and the wonderful smell of baked bread until it expanded again in 1993 and moved to 2301 S. First St. Harris also bought the bankrupt Lane Hotel and transformed it into the cultural center of Northwest Arkansas in the 1940s and 1950s.
Munsingwear was brought to Rogers in 1946 mostly due to the efforts of A.D. Callison. Callison built a factory beside the railroad track on Olrich Street. Previously, the street was named Hickory Street, but that was changed by the Rogers City Council to Olrich in honor of the president of Munsingwear, Ernest Olrich. The company made women’s stockings, which were very coveted and hard to get at the time. In the 1950s, the plant became the world’s largest producer of seamless nylon hosiery and employed 200 people. It was the largest industrial employer in Rogers until Daisy arrived in 1958.
The Rogers Stave Mill was established in 1946 by C.H. Bryant and Lige Eversole. In 1950, it was the Eversole Stave Mill and paid over $318,000 for payroll and log purchases. The mill was a big operation at the corner of West Olive and North Second streets and made staves for wooden barrels. Staves produced in Rogers were primarily sent to Lebanon, Ky., and many were used in Jim Beam whiskey barrels. The mill closed in September 1986.
The Rogers Dairy Products Plant was opened at 206 W. Birch
in 1930. The Carnation Milk Company acquired the company and began operations in April 1935. The company bought raw milk and processed it into canned condensed milk. By 1956, Carnation employed 26 haulers who picked up milk from 1,200 area dairy farmers. The plant discontinued milk operations in the early 1960s. The big concrete plant is still there today and looks much the same as in 1930.
The House of Webster is one of the most fascinating success stories in the history of Rogers. Roy Webster had a route during the Depression of the 1930s delivering newspapers and Harris Bakery bread all over Northwest Arkansas and parts of Missouri. To supplement his income, he and his wife, Evelyn, began making and selling pies along the route. Soon, the pies were such a success that they opened a bakery at 112 S. Second St. Webster came up with the concept of selling jellies, jams and preserves in decorative early American containers. The Websters
built a new building at 1013 N. Second St. and started producing these products. In 1946, Jones Truck Lines ordered 70 of the products as Christmas gifts for their customers and friends. This purchase led to the production of jellies and foods in the unique containers for industrial gifts for small and large companies nationwide including Ford Motors, General Motors, General Electric and others. One of the largest orders was from a company that ordered 6,700 jugs of sorghum molasses.
Roy Webster died in 1994 at age 80, and Evelyn died in 1997. Dale Webster, the son of Roy and Evelyn, took over the reins of the company in 1980 and operated the company until it was sold to Griffin Foods of Muskogee, Okla., in 2006. Today the company in its original location on North Second Street still offers the same high quality gift packs in the unique containers.
At the beginning of the decade, Rogers had a variety of businesses and factories providing jobs; however, the biggest industry was raising chickens. Poultry plants in Rogers included Garrett Poultry, Ralston Purina, Keeshin Poultry, Linwood
Poultry (Safeway) and Willhill Poultry (Vick Will).
When the decade began, Rogers was receiving from the northern states as many as 40,000 baby chicks per day to supply the farmers in Northwest Arkansas. Soon, the producers began a process called vertical integration, where feed, hatching, raising, processing, marketing and hauling was done by one company. Eventually, all of the major producers employed this system, including Garrett Poultry and Ralston Purina Poultry (which became Hudson Foods).
Charles Garrett’s plant and hatchery was on Arkansas Street between Walnut and Elm streets; the building is still there, now part of Tyson Foods.) In 1948, it was announced that the state’s largest chicken hatchery would be built at the northwest corner of U.S. 71B and Pine Street. (The building was Central Glass for many years. Today it is New Life Graphics Custom Clothing.) Hastings Hatchery was received with great fanfare by local leaders including A.D. Callison, Everett Pate, Mayor Robert Vogt, C. Jimmy Carter, W.H. Hughes, the Rev. Floyd Leggett, Jack Garner and D.H. Hartman.
The new hatchery was managed by John Walburn, who bought the facility in 1951 and changed the name to the Ozark Hatchery. By 1956, Ozark Hatchery was the largest hatchery in the nation, producing 4 million baby chicks per year.
The poultry industry continued to evolve and expand, and today it is still one of the largest contributors to the economy of Rogers and Northwest Arkansas.
In September 1953, the leading business leaders of Rogers formed the Rogers Industrial Foundation with the mission of bringing new industry to Rogers. The original incorporators were Earl Harris, Gene Harris, Lewis Callison and Kale Fones. The effort was immediately successful, bringing a Wendt-Sonis plant to Rogers on Feb. 20, 1954. The company produced carbide tipped tools and originally had openings for 50 local employees. They received 600 applications with the high starting rate of 75 cents per hour. By 1956, the company was one of the leading producers of carbide tipped tools in the nation. The company has changed owners through the years, but today the plant at 205 N. 13th
St. is named Kennametal and is still a leading producer of carbide tools.
Rogers’ population was level during most of the 1950s, but then in 1958, an event occurred that changed the history of Rogers — the coming of Daisy BB Gun Manufacturing Co. The Rogers Industrial Foundation, led by Earl Harris of Harris Bakery and Gene Harris of the American National Bank, convinced Cass Hough, executive vice president of Daisy, to move the entire operation from Plymouth, Mich., to Rogers. All of the local residents, rich and poor alike, joined in the effort to make Rogers the new home of Daisy.
Daisy brought about 70 executives and hired about 1,000 local people to run the new plant. It took 38 train carloads and 71 truckloads to move the machinery and raw materials for the new plant. “When Daisy came to Rogers, it was the springboard for new industry. Other companies came to support Daisy including Continental Can Company, which made cardboard boxes for Daisy,” said Pat Harris, Earl Harris’ son, in an interview on May 4, 2007.
The executives coming to
Rogers and the locals hired with high paying wages brought a boom to Rogers. Many new homes were built, and businesses prospered. Cass Hough died in 1990, and the company has been sold several times. Daisy is still producing air rifles and other products at 1700 N. Second St. in Rogers.
There was another significant event that happened in the 1950s that changed the history of Rogers and all of Northwest Arkansas — the creation of Beaver Lake. The idea to build a dam on the White River originated after the great flood of 1927 devastated six southern states, including Arkansas. In 1949, area leaders formed the Beaver Dam Association to lobby Congress for the dam. The leader and first president of the Beaver Dam Association for Northwest Arkansas was Earl Harris, owner of the Harris Bakery in Rogers. The Beaver Dam Association and U.S. Rep. James Trimble, D-Berryville, who represented Northwest Arkansas, led the effort to establish Beaver Lake.
This is a glimpse of life in Rogers during the 1950s. These events led to a boom in Rogers and Northwest Arkansas that is continuing today.