 Denison, Texas Denison Centennial, 1872 - 1972
pg. 26
Sugar
Bottom has long been a business area of Denison, flourishing when the
railroad was the mainstay of the community. Built up along the tracks
of the intersection on Armstrong, it served the needs of the
neighborhood. As the story goes, a train wreck there spilled
a
whole carload of sugar, from which the name Sugar Bottom was coined.
Sugar
Bottom HistoryAt this writing, Mr. Ed Stirman, age 92, working trains into Denison from 1906 remembers trains going by here about every 5 minutes. People rode them west to the yards and east to the shops. Aruybul's grocery store.on the west corner, service all the people in that area. In this same grocery store, Mr. Ed Price, a Denison policeman, was shot by a burglar in the 1920's. On the alley, where Wright's store is now, was a creamery and ice cream store which was quite a favorite spot. South of the alley was a hardware store. North of the track, on the west side, was a two story brick building with a drug store. Across from this was a feed, grain and coal business. There is not too much remembered about the east side of the street, but one lady that lived just south of there as a child tells of going by the Grace Saloon on her way to school. It was unusual that her shoe string came untied in the green swinging doors so she could see what was inside while she retied the shoe. They told that saloons used green doors but they didn't know the significance. Today, Sugar Bottom is still a business section of Denison with ten business operating in the same places on Armstrong. Sponsored by Roy Perry Insurance, Buster's Tin Shop, T.C. Coffey Air Conditioning, Grayson Fire Extinguisher Co. Among the pioneers who lasted the longest are: O.B. Anderhub; Sam Benjamin; Charles Brignam [AU: Brigham?]; D.E. Holmon; Ben Means; Joe Newcomb; Frank Ramsey; J.J. Redmon. WEST SIDE Sugar Bottom got its first taste of saloons when George Burnett opened his Burnett Saloon on the north side of the tracks on the 500 block of South Armstrong Avenue. The south part of Denison has had a saloon in operation ever since. M. M. White eventually took over the operation of the Burnett Saloon, which lasted until the late 1920's. The Marathon Gas Station was built on the north side of the tracks in the 500 block of South Armstrong Avenue and operated by W.E. Cox. Others would operate the station from time to time, John Anderson and George Johnson among them. The location, however, is best remembered for the Walter Clark Service Station, which occupied the site for more than two decades. The place now serves as a used car lot. EAST SIDE Sugar Bottom is said to have begun on the north side of the tracks in the 500 block of South Armstrong Avenue, with the George Burnett Saloon on the west side and the Denison Coal, Feed and Fuel Company on the east side. George Burnett opened his Burnett Saloon in [AU: YEAR?], and M.M. White eventually took over its operation, lasting until the late 1920's. The Denison Coal, Feed and Fuel Company was established by L.F. McEleer before the turn of the century on the north side of the tracks on the east side of the 500 block of South Armstrong Avenue. J.B. Bartee, who had come to Denison in 1882 and been employed by Knaur Grain, took over the company in the teen years. He changed the firm's name to Central coal and Fuel, which remained in operation until the 1950s. Bill Coonrod took over the site at that time, with his produce shop. The old sonic Drive-In was built here in [AU: YEAR?]. Since the Sonic closed and moved to Austin Avenue, the location has served form many years as a used car lot. Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message.  |