Rekindled: The Forgotten Cigar Legacy of Nacogdoches (Part 1)

Nacogdoches: A Forgotten Hub of the 19th-Century Tobacco Trade

As I started researching our namesake, I was stunned to learn just how little I knew about Nacogdoches’ significance in the tobacco trade at the turn of the 19th century. The tobacco industry was booming in Texas at this time and Nacogdoches was a major player in this arena. From approximately 1897 to 1914, tobacco farming exploded here in East Texas and Nacogdoches was in the center of it all.

When I began this project, I found it was surprising just how incredibly limited our historical records were that document this part of our history. With cigar factories nearly as numerous as pharmacies here in Texas at that time, I assumed more information would be accessible. However, since cotton and lumber were the kings of the south, it is also understandable that most of our history texts focus their attention on these commodities instead.

Even so, I was able to compile a rough history of Nacogdoches and its affair with the tobacco trade.

H.S. Elder: The Pioneer of Nacogdoches’ Cigar Industry

According to official records, the first cigar company to open in Nacogdoches was established by H.S. Edler in the year 1897. H.S. Edler appears to have been from Wisconsin. Records tie him to Janesville, Wisconsin, during the years of 1884-1885, where he is listed as the co-owner of two businesses in a published business directory.

Along with his brother, August Edler, they operated under the business name, the Edler Bros. They co-owned rooms that they would rent to out-of-towners and they had a store that was located at 89 W. Milwaukee Street. The business directory lists the store type as “cigars, tobacco, and cigar manufacturers”.

While it’s unclear exactly when he moved to Texas, for several years before he opened up his cigar company, records show that he represented Nacogdoches, both in the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, and the Texas Farmers Congress, in the early 1890’s. The Texas Agricultural Experiment Station was centrally located at Texas A&M University in College Station, and it had thirteen sub-stations throughout Texas, one of which was located in Nacogdoches.

Using his strong agricultural connections and influence, and with a reputation already as a respected tobacco expert and cigar maker, he successfully launched Nacogdoches into the center of what became a booming tobacco industry, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this time, cigar smoking was widely accepted, and many considered it to be a respectful and sophisticated habit.

And it was enjoyable. Many farmers in East Texas had already been growing tobacco for years for their own personal use, and for the average East Texas farmer, tobacco planting for home consumption was relatively easy and required very little of their attention.

The Rise of Nacogdoches Cigar Factories: A Booming Industry

With Edler at the helm, “preaching the doctrine of tobacco” all over East Texas, he convinced many East Texas farmers to invest more time and farm space on growing more tobacco. His efforts began to pay off too. In 1893, East Texas tobacco won first prize at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

We don’t know where Edler lived during this time, but I bet that he lived around the Willis, Texas, area for a while. Willis was long assumed to be the center of the East Texas tobacco trade until later results shifted that focus over to Nacogdoches. And in Willis, Texas, on April 22, 1894, Edler and his wife, Mary A. Edler (Conell), welcomed a son, Raymond Charles Edler, into the world.

Whether he lived in Willis or Nacogdoches, Edler’s area of influence was much larger, and he spread the gospel of East Texas tobacco far and wide. Texas tobacco began to get a reputation for producing leaf that was “indeed of excellent quality, surpassing in aroma any domestic leaf examined up to that time.” It was widely agreed upon that the tobacco produced in Texas made very fine flavoured cigars as well as smoking tobacco.

Unfortunately, it was also true, and widely agreed upon, that Texas farmers weren’t sophisticated in their methods or modes of curing the leaf, which was a hurdle that prevented them from converting their crop into manufactured tobacco for the commercial market. Until they could improve their methods of cultivating tobacco, East Texas tobacco didn’t have a shot at being successful in a major market.

Texas Tobacco vs. Cuban Tobacco: A Surprising Rivalry

Evenso, reports began to reach the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Soils that tobacco farmers in East Texas were capable of producing a flavorful tobacco leaf that was comparable in quality and aroma to Cuban tobacco.

Obviously, some progress was being made.

So in 1897, H.S. Edler moved his family to Nacogdoches and opened up the first cigar factory in Nacogdoches’ history. And while the structure no longer exists, Edler’s first cigar company was housed in a two or three story frame building on North Fredonia Street, between Hospital and Commerce streets. Edler produced thousands of stogies each week in his small factory, which employed three cigar makers. His “Blue Ribbon” cigars became very well known as well.

The editor of the Daily Sentinel, a man named Bill Haltom, wrote an article in 1906, that credited H.S. Edler for coming to Nacogdoches years earlier and “preaching the doctrine of tobacco”. He praised Edler for “piquing the government’s interest” in Nacogdoches, with the “fine taste of his “Blue Ribbon”” cigars.

“Piquing the government’s interest” is a modest way to put it. The Bureau of Soils kept sending teams out to examine and study our area year after year. In 1899 they returned to East Texas and retrieved several samples of Texas tobacco that they included in the Paris Exposition. And again, Texas tobacco showed a marked superiority in its leaf. Impressively, East Texas tobacco even won first prize at the Paris World’s Fair in 1900.

Step Into History at the La Havana Lounge

Experience the rich history of Nacogdoches' tobacco legacy firsthand. Our lounge is more than just a place to relax—it’s a tribute to the cigar makers who shaped our town’s past. Come in, unwind, and soak in the stories that linger in every corner. Whether you're a history buff, a cigar enthusiast, or just curious, there’s no better way to connect with the past than to experience it for yourself.

Visit us today and take a journey through time—one cigar at a time.