Created in 2005 by the Texas Historical Commission, the Texas Treasure Business Award program pays tribute to businesses that have provided employment opportunities and support to the state’s economy for 50 years or more. Seven Harlingen businesses located in the city’s historic center were presented with the prestigious award this fall: three law firms, three retailers and a service company.

To date, only 119 businesses in Texas have been named Texas Treasures. The well-established Texas businesses, which have contributed to the state’s prosperity, are also models of strong family ties that have enabled the companies to endure, create jobs and invest in the local economy.

Grimsell’s, opened in Harlingen in 1916 by Frank Grimsell and owned today by his granddaughter Carol Mayfield, was originally a popular outlet for all types of seed for the Magic Valley’s farming community. Mayfield’s parents ran the business for 20 years, and her brother Donnie Giffen held the reins for almost 40 years. He added the nursery which is known for the roses, fruit trees and plants it carries. “Grimsell’s Got It” has been a refrain for years. Occupying half a downtown city block, Grimsell’s displays plants and seeds around a shaded courtyard that boasts one of the taller flagpoles in the Valley at 125 feet.

Leonard Leonard and his wife Ray opened the Army Surplus Supply in June 1946 and relocated their store in 1953 to 306 W. Jackson, formerly the Pepsi Cola bottling plant. In the 1940s and ’50s, many farmers came to Surplus Supply to purchase surplus bunk beds, mattresses and wooden water barrels for Mexican workers in the bracero program. Migrant workers patronized the store, too, buying cotton sacks and canvas work pants, as well as accordions and foot-powered sewing machines to take home.

For years, Surplus Supply had the Valley’s cheapest prices on rifle and shotgun shells, selling hundreds of cases at 2% over cost. Leonard Leonard, who called his place “the working man’s store,” was happy to trade an old gun for a new one.

Rio Elevator Company, Inc., was established in 1951 in Harlingen by Sidney W. Hale. Before serving in the Navy during World War II as a fleet repair electrician, he had been an Otis Elevator mechanic in Wichita Falls. In 1949, he opened Otis’ first Rio Grande Valley field office. Initially Hale and his wife, Freda, operated their own elevator company from the dining room table at the family’s farm. Although Hale had been warned by Evan Hurst, president at First National Bank, that the Valley couldn’t support an elevator company, his business grew, slowly but steadily. Frank Hale returned to Harlingen in 1971 to partner with his father. By the late 1980s, Frank had become the company’s president.

To read more on this story special to VBR, pick up a copy of the December print edition of Valley Business Report or visit the “Current & Past Issues” link on this website.