Historic Midland

MIMS &
STEPHENS,
INC.
❖
205 W. Wall St., circa 1949.
THIS IS A SAMPLE PHOTO CREDIT.
Ray V. Hyatt and Percy J. Mims opened their
insurance agency in 1922 as Hyatt & Mims.
Midland was a small town then, and insurance
needs were small as well. For instance, in 1924,
a client insured his brand new Ford Roadster for
$315 against the perils of Fire and Theft. The
premium was only $8.10!
When Claude O. Crane became a partner in
1929, the name became Hyatt, Mims & Crane.
Soon afterward, Hyatt left the business, which
became Mims & Crane.
In 1937, Percy Mims bought the building
at 205 W. Wall Street, recently vacated by
the telephone company, across the street from
the courthouse.
County clerk Susie Noble called, all concerned.
“Percy, why did you want to move way out
there?” she asked! She considered two blocks
from Main Street as “out of town.”
Mims & Crane grew as the town grew. They
wrote life insurance, property and casualty
insurance, sold real estate, managed rental property,
brokered real estate loans, and provided
abstracts through the West Texas Abstract
Company, which they also owned.
The partners were always involved in community
affairs, and Percy Mims was serving as
president of the school board when he died suddenly,
May 15, 1945. Maurine Mims, Percy’s
widow, then became active in the business, and
remained so until failing health caused her
retirement at the age of 84 in 1980!
Following his discharge from the Army in
October 1945, James Mims joined his mother
and Crane, to be followed within a short time by
Crane’s son, Lee M. (Tad) Crane as partners.
In 1946, the Cranes sold their interest and
moved to Ruidoso, New Mexico. Edwin L.
Stephens, an 18-year employee of the Loyalty
Group Insurance Companies came from Fort
Worth to become a partner, and the name
became Mims & Stephens the following year.
80 ✦ HISTORIC MIDLAND