Cochran, Blair & Potts

In 1884 Thomas W. Cochran took advantage of his resources and helped establish a mainstay in the Belton community by providing quality merchandise at an affordable price. Cochran, Blair & Potts is the oldest operating department store in the state of Texas. Furthermore, it has been owned and operated by the same family for seven generations. A historical marker flanks the side of the building giving credit to all who have kept Cochran, Blair & Potts thriving for over 14 decades.

Cochran, Blair & Potts originated in Centerville, Texas, when Henry Cook and his son-in-law, Thomas W. Cochran, opened a mercantile business in 1869. The business stocked dry goods, hardware, drugs, coffins, and included a lumberyard. To take advantage of the railroad boom, the firm relocated to Belton in 1883 and opened a store in 1884. Over the years, business partners died, company names changed, and other partners joined the firm including Jesse S. Blair and Arthur H. Potts. The business became known as Cochran, Blair & Potts in 1917.

The design of the building served as a model for other department stores. Architects designed the front with two entrances on either side of a glass window. Only the highest quality products were used. Four coats of varnish covered brown mahogany fixtures with a finish of an oil pumice stone rub. Dressing rooms were equipped with wall to wall mirrors and connected to the alterations department to allow for quick service.

Traveling cowboys and herders congregated in Belton, located on the Chisholm Trail. The cowboys’ demands for goods, equipment, and services such as saddles, ropes, and blankets kept the firm in business. The store expanded its inventory to include chaps, hat bands, cattle whips, fancy spurs, gun holsters, and carriages and buggies. When Arthur Potts joined the firm, it was reported that the store sold a dozen buggies a day.

The store’s inventory was destroyed by fire in 1928, but the store was able to reopen in 1929. The corporation was dissolved in 1938 and the business became a partnership owned by members of the Cochran, Blair, and Potts families. The firm, which became solely owned by descendants of Roy Campbell Potts in 1970, was incorporated in 1977. Currently the store sells mostly boots and other types of footwear and men’s and women’s clothes.

Howard, Luke. "A Hundred and Twenty-Six Years of Quality Service." [S.l. : s.n., 2010].