Texas Historical Marker #01264
Dr. Charles L. Fields. (1858-1941) Prominent pioneer dentist and farmer. As a boy, cut wood to support mother widowed in Civil War. Worked as carpenter for money to attend dental school in Chicago. Licensed 1890. Came to Canadian in 1903; Groom, 1916. Traveled at times to ranch headquarters and to Ochiltree and Mobeetie, to patients unable to go to him. Often had to ford rivers, hauling his collapsible dental chair and foot-powered drill. Used iodine and laudanum as antiseptics and pain-killers. Operated his own denture lab. Met large demand for gold teeth. Often was paid in beef, produce. #1264
?, Groom, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #00886
Groom. Founded 1902 by W. S. Wilkerson, local landowner, when Rock Island Railroad built west; named for Col. B. B. Groom, 1880s agent of Franklyn Land & Cattle Co. Col. Groom was first to try power farming on Plains. Town is today hub of rich farming and ranching area. #886
203 Broadway, Groom, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #05101
State National Bank. Founded in 1904 as a private bank by John Walter Knorpp (1867-1952), member of an established banking family of Missouri, New Mexico, and Texas, and Eugene Sherwood Blasdel (1878-1930), oil and grain business developer of this region. In 1905 Blasdel sold his interest to Knorpp. A state charter was obtained in 1908, but surrendered in 1926 for national charter. Patronage from diligent, thrifty early settlers advanced the career of this bank. On its Board of Directors have been members of the pioneer Britten, Fields, Fraser, Harrell, Johnson, Krizan, Slay, and Steele families. I. C. Unsell was cashier from 1908 to 1932. Cecil Culver (born 1903), who came to the bank in 1929 as assistant cashier, purchased the controlling interest from Knorpp and became president in 1951. Adjusting to the crises in the region, State National Bank weathered the panic of 1907, the adversities of the 1930s Dust Bowl, two World Wars, and other national and international experiences. It continues to bolster the cattle, grain, oil, beef feedlot, and other agribusiness interests, and the cultural facilities of Groom and surrounding area. #5101
114 Main Street, Groom, TX, United States