Special to the Citizen

Dublin has had a number of car dealerships over the years. None of them came close to the look of the new Chevrolet dealership that opened January 7th 1950.

The $60,000 building was circular in form and had large plate glass windows. A large mechanics shop was in back and a parts department was located behind the large bright showroom.

The owner of the business was Earnest Durham who was born in Dublin and had close ties with the city. He was also making plans to move back to Dublin from Granbury. If you wanted to buy one of the new 1950 Chevrolets, Orval Payne was the new car salesman. Jim Stephens was the used car salesman, Billie McGriff was in the parts department and Wanda Fanning was the bookkeeper. Mr Durham said that “I have always felt that Dublin was my home and will be glad to move back here in the near future.”

Of course, the star of the store opening was the 1950 Chevrolet now with an optional powerglide automatic transmission. It also had curved glass in front and rear giving the driver a panoramic view.

Six hundred people attended the grand opening ceremonies. Corsages were given to the women, funny books to the children and cigars to the men. Some said that it was the prettiest building in Dublin. The building had fluorescent lights and concrete floors throughout.

The Chevrolet dealership changed hands in 1953 to Moore Chevrolet. Moore only owned it until June 1954 when Fred Fletcher bought the Chevrolet Dealership. I was told that Fred Fletcher after returning from World War II had dreamed of owning a Chevrolet dealership and his purchasing of this franchise made his dream come true.

Because of the beauty of the showroom and high visibility, high school students later decided to have their Junior- Senior Prom in the glass showroom. I am told that my parents put all the kids in the car and went to see the prom from the street. With all the dancing couples moving around the glass showroom, it must have looked like “Arthur Murray’s Dance Studio,”a popular television show at that time.

In 1964, Bill Hardin bought the building and changed it to a Ford dealership.

Several years later a house next to the dealership was purchased and that land became a car lot next to the building. The extra space allowed them to expand their offering of new and used cars. Later a second house was purchased and moved to South Grafton. The extra lot allowed their selection of cars to expand even more.

If you are going to Granny Clark’s restaurant sometime soon, the parking area in front used to be the expanded car lot for the ford dealership. I remember going there as a kid and looking at all the new Ford Galaxies, Fairlanes and Mustangs. It was a well run business that served Dublin well.