parking garage

 

Opened in 1949, Hemphill-Wells was the premiere shopping destination in Lubbock and the South Plains.  Long-timers will have their own stories of the department store.  As a child I remember Saturdays with my grandmother.  We would take a taxi downtown, I would fidget while she got her hair done at the Merle Norman Studio and then we would walk around the corner to have lunch in the Tea Room on the mezzanine of Hemphill-Wells.  My great-aunt Almedea was the "hat lady" in the hat department.  At Christmas cars would line the block for a view of the decorated scenes in the windows.  The department store is no more but the parking garage is vacant and still bears the sign. The Department Store Museum is a neat blog with more history of Hemphill-Wells.