The H.J. Justin Room

H. J. Justin was a bootmaker who moved to Spanish Fort in 1878 at the time the cowboys were headed up the Chisholm Trail to Kansas.  Justin changed the way that cowboy boots were made, as his boots featured a slender toe that wouldn't hang in the stirrup, a steel-shank arch for riding comfortably, and a uniquely-shaped heel so that the cowboy's foot wouldn't go through the stirrup when the rider was mounted.  When the railroad came through Nocona in 1887, Justin and his family moved to Nocona, which had better shipping facilities for the new "mail order" boots produced by H.J. Justin & Sons.  When his sons moved to Fort Worth in 1925 and formed Justin Boots, his daughter (Enid Justin) started the Nocona Boot Company and continued the legacy.