Legendary Cowboy Boot Maker Justin Boots

Fort Worth, Texas, is home to the legendary cowboy boot maker Justin Boots. H. J. “Daddy Joe” Justin (1859 – 1918) was one of the best known early cowboy boot makers. In 1879, Daddy Joe moved from Lafayette, Indiana, where he had been a boot repairman and started his company in Spanish Fort, Texas. He would measure the cowboys’ feet for custom boots as they drove their cattle north and would have the boots ready for them on their return trip after they had sold the cattle and had the money to pay for the boots. Justin was one of the first companies to use decorative stitching to stiffen the leather, prevent it from folding around the ankles. In 1887, when the railroad line was built through Nocona, Texas, Daddy Joe moved the company there because it was easier to ship boots from a town on the railroad line. In 1925, the company moved to Fort Worth.