In 1884, Joseph Heneage Finch, the Seventh Earl of Aylesford of Warwickshire, England, bought a lot in Big Spring and had a native limestone structure built there to house the town’s first meat market, the first permanent masonry building in Big Spring. Forced out of England after a divorce scandal, he had come to West Texas on a hunting and investment expedition and made Big Spring one of his headquarters. Particular about the source and quality of his meat, he brought his own butcher, Von Paussen, who served both him and the public in the stone building at what is now 121 Main Street, where an immense marble slab covered the counter. The earl preferred mutton, and because sheep outnumbered cattle in the frontier village while local residents did not butcher sheep, he had an unlimited supply for himself and his English brothers, friends, and servants. Known locally as “Judge,” he died on January 13, 1886, at age 35 from excessive drinking, and his body was returned to England for burial. His brief two years in Big Spring became legendary, and he was remembered with high esteem. The inventory of his probate included, among other properties, “One meat market, $1800.” In later years the storefront was faced with brick.