Water Rails & Oil - Historic Mid & South Jefferson County

SUTHERLIN
JEWELERS
❖
The nterior of Sutherlin Jewelry at
520 Procter Street in Port Arthur,
1952. Store personnel shown are
(from left to right) Mrs. Urcy
Harmon, salesclerk; Charles Morgan,
watchmaker; Jim Sutherlin, manager;
Edgar B. Sutherlin, owner; and
Elizabeth Anne Sutherlin, daughter
of Jim.
Edgar B. Sutherlin, with his family, moved from
Culver, Indiana to Orange, Texas, in 1913, and
opened a jewelry store. It was only a few months
before Ed noted the booming oil refineries in
Jefferson County and the family traveled on the
train to Port Arthur in 1914. The first jewelry shop
was in Hart Drug store in the
Stock Building at the corner
of Procter and Austin Avenue.
Business prospered and Ed’s
brother, John, also a
watchmaker, came from
Indiana and joined him.
The popular jewelry store
soon relocated to 514-520
Procter Street. In addition to
quality watches and jewelry,
musical instruments, sheet
music, and luggage sales
complemented the business.
To perpetuate an old
English custom the
Sutherlins installed a large
town clock with a four-foot
diameter face in front of their store. The clock
became a landmark and provided continual
public service for decades. Edgar and John
retired in 1955 to work in their garden and to
travel. Edith and Edgar reared three children—
Maurine, Waneta, and James.
MILTON’S
TEXACO
Milton and Sonja McCreery has seen many
changes since October 1, 1965, when they first
opened Milton’s Texaco Station at 3949 Twin
City Highway in Port Arthur. All stations offered
full service then, but in the Port Arthur-
Port Neches-Groves area only Milton’s
now provides everything from state inspections
and fixing flats to lube, oil, and filling the
gas tank.
“Gas prices then were 23.9 cents a gallon for
regular and 27.9 cents for super,” he says.
“During gas wars in the late 1960s, prices
dropped to 20 cents. And, in the 1970s fuel
shortage, gas lines were half-a-mile long.”
Milton now has two self-service islands and one
island offering full service at a slightly higher price,
“Of course we always pump gas and provide other
services for the handicapped,” he says.
Many people now “price shop” or “location
shop,” but many of Milton’s customers—
including some who have never put gas in their
cars—have been with him from the beginning.”
Milton’s children, Kent and Tammi, and
now his grandchildren, Kandice and Lani
Appaleman, have been involved in operating the
station. Even though the business requires
twelve to fourteen hour days, he says, it has
been good to him.
98 ✦ WATER, RAILS & OIL