Friona's First Barber Shop

Jack Anderson learned his trade on a ranch run under strict rules. Albert G. Boyce, the XIT's general manager from 1888, enforced the syndicate's laws against gambling, drinking, abusing stock and killing beef without permission, and under him the ranch reached its peak: 150 cowboys riding 1,000 horses branded 35,000 calves in one year. Hands earned twenty-five to thirty dollars a month, and many made extra money wolfing for the high bounties on wolf pelts. Boyce gave way to Henry S. Boice in 1905, as XIT land was sold in small tracts to farmers.

What the plaque says

Friona's First Barber Shop Friona was established in 1906 and by 1926, various businesses were established. Jack Anderson began his barber career at the XIT Ranch in 1903. He settled in Friona where he opened the town's first barbershop in 1926 and cut hair for generations. In 1951, a young Lee Gibson went to work for Mr. Anderson as a shoeshiner and general caretaker. After graduating barber school, Gibson began working at Jack's in 1963 as a barber. They worked together until Mr. Anderson's death in 1969. Mr. Gibson bought the shop that same year and ran the business for several decades. The barbershop remains one of the few structurally-unchanged historic buildings from early days of Friona's history. (2016)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Deaf Smith County Historical Museum — 22 mi
  Hereford's county museum in an early Catholic school: the Windmill City's pioneers, a half-dugout and caboose outside, and work by the Italian prisoners held south of town in the war.

More markers nearby

• Friona — steps away
• Site of First Church in City of Friona — steps away
• Friona Schools — 0.2 mi
• Friona Women's Clubs — 0.3 mi