Bivins

 

In 1905, cattle rancher Lee Bivins and his wife, Mary, built an enormous brick-and-stone home at 1000 S. Polk St. The Bivins family was highly influential in Amarillo’s first decades, and their three-story home immediately became one of the city’s grandest. After several years as a city commissioner, Lee Bivins was elected Amarillo’s mayor in 1925. At the time, he owned more than a million acres of land, had struck oil and gas, and was speculated to be the largest individual cattle operator in the world. He was still in office when he died of a heart attack in 1929.

Following her husband’s death, Mary E. Bivins lived in the house until her passing on Dec. 31, 1951. The family then donated the property to the City of Amarillo to become the Mary E. Bivins Memorial Library, operating there from 1955 until 1976. 

The Mary E Bivins Library was housed for years on Polk St. Today the historic building is home to the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce, Center City of Amarillo, and other community organizations.