The Scarbrough building, Austin's first skyscraper, will be a thoroughly fire-proof building and entirely modern in every respect.
The Congress avenue and Sixth street fronts will be finished in Bedford stone for the lower two stories, above this will be a terra cotta sill course, above which the fronts will be of gray brick, topped out with a terra cotta cornice, all terra cotta being colored to match the brick. The first floor fronts will be almost a solid sheet of plate glass, as this floor, together with the basement and second floor will be occupied by Scarbrough & Hicks, and the street fronts will be composed of their immense show windows.
The building is of a type known as a steel frame building, all weight being carried by the steel frame work and the floors being formed of a reinforced concrete slab, with finish floor laid on top of the slab.
The upper six stories of the building will be divided up into office rooms and the floors in the store and office rooms will be of wood, while the floors of the corridors and toilet rooms will be of terraza, with tile border and panels, and the floor of the elevator lobby will be of Tennessee marble, with dark border and light field.
All corridors, toilet rooms and stairways will have Tennessee marble wainscot, while the elevator lobby will have a wainscot of imported Italian marble and the main stairway, leading up from the lobby will be composed entirely of marble.
The elevator equipment will consist of two cars running from the basement to the eighth floor and one car running from the basement to the second floor, the latter being entirely for the use of the patrons of the store.
The entire building will be heated by steam and lighted by electricity, the power plant being located in the rear of the basement.
There will be hot and cold water in every room, and ice water faucets on every floor, providing drinking water for tenants, and the whole building will be cooled in summer by a system of ventilation which will circulate air which has been cooled by passing over refrigerating pipes.
A mail chute, centrally located, with an opening on each floor will deliver all mail to the first floor, where it will be collected by the postman.
A vacuum cleaning plant will be installed, with connections on each floor for the use of tenants, this being found only in the most up-to-date office buildings at present.
The whole building is designed and equipped in the most improved fashion with the convenience and comfort of the tenants always uppermost in the architect's mind, and tenants will have every comfort known to modern office architecture.
The business success of Mr. Emerson M. Scarbrough is a shining example of what may be accomplished through the proper application of energy and industry. By adhering strictly to the principals of honesty and fair dealing towards his employees, customers and the public at large he has built up a great commercial enterprise.
It was not through any whimsical chance of fortune that Mr. Scarbrough found himself in possession of a business that is second to none in Texas. He has spent the best years of his life in the work of bringing it up to its present scope and standards. Like many other of the great captains of industry of this country he passed through the crucial test of experience before he attained the heights of success. His life history is interesting, not only because it is that of a man who is beloved by the people of his own community, but for the still greater reason that it affords a lesson that should serve as a beacon light to the struggling boys and young men who are striving to make a place for themselves in the business world of today. It teaches that obstacles that may seem almost insurmountable may be overcome if the efforts of the aspirant to success follows the straight course that is marked out for him. With Mr. Scarbrough there was no diverting to the right or the left when he had once entered upon the route that was destined to lead him to the industrial heights. For a time the way was rough and narrow, but with the passing years and through his constant and never flagging devotion to the principles that he had adopted at the very beginning of his business career his path broadened into a highway that he is still following onward and upward. He has accomplished great things in the commercial world, but his ambition is to do still more.
Mr. Scarbrough is 63 years old. It is reasonable to believe that he still has many years of activity before him. That he will devote them to the further upbuilding of his commercial and other industrial enterprises is practically assured. With him his great commercial establishment is a hobby. That he should be willing to assume added cares and responsibilities that will come from its constant expansion in the years to come is not a matter of wonder. He has spent most of his life nourishing and watching its growth. It is the child of his own creation and as such it is but natural that it should be his chief pride and comfort in a business sense.
Mr. Scarbrough was born upon a farm in Calhoun county, Alabama. He was four years old when his father died. It was during the period of his childhood and early youth that he learned those basic principles that have served him so well in his after life. His devoted mother instilled into him those moral truths that have characterized him all through his business and private career. In the days of Mr. Scarbrough's youth it was customary for boys to remain upon the farm or at home until they had attained their majority. He was no exception to this rule. He labored in the cultivation of the land upon the home farm until he was 21 years old. It was then that he was permitted to profit by his own labors. He put in two months working upon the farm for his brother following the attainment of his majority. For this labor he was paid $15 per month. It was the first wages Mr. Scarbrough had ever received.
In 1868 Mr. Scarbrough came to Texas seeking a location. He traveled overland over a good portion of the state, looking over the country and prospecting for a likely place to obtain a situation. He stopped at Bryan station in Bell county, where he accepted a position as clerk in the general store of Hale & Evans. In this store he obtained his first training in the commercial business. His salary was $20 per month. In these days that amount looks small. It was small, in fact, but Mr. Scarbrough was able to save a little of it each month. In this connection it may be well to state that it was always one of his established principles to spend less than he made. He worked for Hale & Evans at Bryan station for two years. When the Houston and Texas Central was built to Hearne in 1870 that firm established a store there and Mr. Scarbrough changed his location to to the new place. His salary was raised to $35 per month. His employers recognized his ability and worth and placed additional responsibilities upon him.
In 1874 the International and Great Northern was completed to Rockdale, and as it offered an inviting field for the establishment of a mercantile house, Mr. Hale offered an opportunity to Mr. Scarbrough to join him in going into business there. Mr. Scarbrough during the period that he had been with the firm had thoroughly familiarized himself with all the details of the mercantile business. He had studied it in all of its manifold ramifications. He knew all of the different departments of the trade and had shown such an aptitude for producing good business results that Mr. Hale was well aware that he would be a valuable man as a partner. Mr. Scarbrough was able to raise $2000 which he put in with Mr. Hale and the house was established at Rockdale in 1874 under the name of H. P. Hale & Co. Mr. Scarbrough was the company. This establishment was operated under that name and ownership until 1883 when the death of the senior member of the firm enabled Mr. Scarbrough to purchse his interest. He then took in as a partner R. H. Hicks, the name of the firm being changed to Scarbrough & Hicks, which it still remains.
The business of the establishment at Rockdale constantly grew and expanded and Mr. Scarbrough began to investigate the opportunities that existed in Austin for a similar enterprise. In 1889 he moved his family to this city. During the following three years he made a careful study of the situation with the result that he decided that the time was propitious for carrying out his plans. In 1892 he established the Austin house under the name of Scarbrough & Hicks.
In all of his business transactions Mr. Scarbrough moves with care and deliberation. He studies every phase of a question before arriving at a definite conclusion and then when he has once settled upon a thing in his own mind he can not be deterred from carrying it out or made to change his position. As a result of adhering strictly to this conservative policy he has made few, if any, business mistakes. He is a master of details, but in the conduct of his great commercial enterprise he relies implicitly upon the ability and honesty of his employees. He knows that if they are treated right his business will prosper.
His Austin establishment has had a steady and substantial growth ever since it was started. He is also still a partner with Mr. Hicks in the Rockdale store and they own a one-half interest in the business of T. W. Marse & Co. in Taylor.
The beneficial influence that the great commercial establishment of Scarbrough & Hicks and Mr. Scarbrough personally has had upon the city of Austin can not be measured in dollars and cents. His store has been a training school for character. Through his influence his employees have been broadened in mind; they are not mere automatons that perform their duties from day to day without the stimulus of prospects of personal betterment; they find their work of absorbing interest; they have had instilled into their minds the basic principles of honesty and uprightness which are the foundation stones for business success. Radiating from this mart of commerce from day to day are the influences that do much for the moral uplifting and character upbuilding of the citizenship of Austin.
Mr. Scarbrough has the greatest faith in the future growth and greatness of Austin. The magnificent eight-story, modern store and office building that he is now erecting here attests his belief in this respect. His progressive public spirit is one of the chief elements in the leaven that is now working to bring Austin into her rightful position as one of the greatest business centers and large towns of the state. He has always been active for the accomplishment of any legitimate effort or proposition that would add to the growth and upbuilding of the town.
In his private life Mr. Scarbrough has followed those same great principles and policies that have made his business enterprises marvels of success. He is a consistent Christian and a liberal, though an unobtrusive, supporter of charitable institutions and causes that have for their purpose the improvement of mankind.