Enid Justin a native of Montague County

Montague County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 19,117 people, 7,770 households, and 5,485 families residing in the county. The population density was 20 people per square mile . There were 9,862 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, founded the Nocona Boot Company in the small community of Nocona

Nocona, Texas

Nocona is a city along U.S. Highway 82 and State Highway 175 in Montague County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,198 at the 2000 census.-History:...

, Texas.

Family life

Enid Justin married Julius Stelzer in 1915; the couple had a child in 1916. The baby girl, Anna Jo, died in 1918, the same year that Enid's father died. Enid and Julius divorce

Divorce

Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

d in 1934. In 1940, she married Harry Whitman, and they divorced in 1945.

Nocona Boot Company

Her father was the famed boot-maker Herman Joseph Justin

Herman Joseph Justin

Herman Joseph Justin was born in Lafayette, Indiana. Justin's father's profession, cigar making, didn't suit H. J., so he moved to Texas in 1877 at the age of 18. First settling in Gainesville, Texas at a time when Indian raids from the Oklahoma Territory were just beginning to wane, Justin was...

, who manufactured his first pair of boots while working in a Texas barber shop

Barber

A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....

. A student of the boot-making craft herself, Enid opened the Nocona Boot Company in 1925 after her brothers, John, Sr., Avis, and Earl, decided to move her father's business to Fort Worth

Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

, Texas.

I designed my first pair of boots when I was 14; I got the idea for the pattern from a velvet-brocaded couch.--Enid Justin at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame

National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is a museum and association which honors women of the American West who have displayed courage or spirit and who have distinguished themselves while exemplifying the pioneer spirit...

Enid Justin launched her company with employees from her father's business. Her husband, Julius. served as president, and Enid worked many jobs including shipping clerk, bill collector, and salesperson. The discovery of oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

 in Nocona's North Field in 1926 brought new business to the bootmakers, who supplied lace-up boots to oil field workers. The company prospered, even during the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 and World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 period and moved to a new 30000 sq ft (2,787.1 m²). facility on U.S. Route 82

U.S. Route 82

U.S. Route 82 is an east–west United States highway in the southern United States. What started as a 1932 addition to the system across central Mississippi and southern Arkansas eventually became a 1,609 mile route extending from the White Sands of New Mexico to Georgia's Atlantic coast.The...

 in 1947.

Nocona Boot Company became one of the top five boot-makers in the country as a result of Justin's intrepid work ethic

Work ethic

Work ethic is a set of values based on hard work and diligence. It is also a belief in the moral benefit of work and its ability to enhance character. An example would be the Protestant work ethic...

, diligence, and devotion to her employees. The company expanded in the late 1970s and early 1980, having opened factories in Vernon

Vernon, Texas

Vernon is a city in Wilbarger County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population was 11,660; it was 11,077 in the 2005 census estimate. Vernon is the county seat of Wilbarger County....

 and Gainesville

Gainesville, Texas

Gainesville is a city in and the county seat of Cooke County, Texas, United States. The population was 15,538 at the 2000 census.-History:...

, Texas.

In 1981, Enid Justin merged the company with her brothers' Justin Industries. Throughout the 1980s

1980s

File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...

, she continued to devote her energies to civic actions and causes. She donated to expand the Nocona city park and to underwrite both boys' and girls' Little League

Little League

Little League Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the U.S...

 programs. On October 14, 1990, Enid Justin died in Nocona at the age of ninety-six.

In 1999, Justin Industries closed the Nocona Boot Company plant in Nocona and consolidated all boot-making in El Paso

El Paso, Texas

El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...

, Texas, and Cassville

Cassville, Missouri

Cassville is a city in Flat Creek Township, Barry County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,266 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Barry County. Crowder College offers 2 year degree programs in Cassville...

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, thus ending more than a century of quality boot-making in Nocona.

An exhibit at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame

National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is a museum and association which honors women of the American West who have displayed courage or spirit and who have distinguished themselves while exemplifying the pioneer spirit...

 in Fort Worth honors Justin's contribution to the boot-making industry.