Lawyer and World War I veteran T. Edgar Johnson (1889-1972) gathered resources from family and friends to open Johnson-Davis Ford Company in Vernon in 1930 at this location. The business thrived during the Great Depression, becoming a leading transportation business in the region for thirty years. T. Edgar, his wife, Robbie Laurine (Davis), and their daughter moved here from Breckenridge, where he had been a successful attorney. Johnson served the community as a board member of the Pease River Flood Control District. He was also a longtime board member of the Vernon chamber of commerce and its president in 1937, helping the local economy to prosper.