Content area
Full Text
Twin Mountain Fence Company in San Angelo is widely known for its fence products and expertise in fence construction. Owner Raymond Meza has expanded the business since he acquired it in 1993 from the Nickel family. Today Twin Mountain Fence offers a complete line of fencing materials and its own brand of electric fence supplies. A big part of the company's business is constructing fence within a 250 mile radius of San Angelo, but will go anywhere there is a fencing job.
The company was started by the original owner, Homer Nickel, in the 1940s. Nickel operated a whiskey store on the brow of the hill adjacent to the Twin Mountains, two prominent hills that are a local landmark just to the southwest of San Angelo on U.S. Highway 67.
Nickel lived with his wife and sons, Robert and Milton, on the top floor of the two story building and operated the liquor store out of the first floor. One night in 1947 a trucker with a load of cedar posts broke down not far from the whiskey store and the driver showed up at the Nickels' door, asking for help. Mr. Nickel agreed to lend the driver some money to get home, taking the load of cedar posts for collateral.
Ranchers visiting the store to buy liquor saw the load of posts and would ask if they were for sale. Since some time had passed and it looked as if the driver was not going to return, Nickel began selling cedar posts to recoup his money. He discovered that he was filling a need for fence posts and went into the business of supplying cedar posts. He called the business Nick's Cedar Posts, later changing the name to Twin Mountain Fence.
When Homer's son Robert returned from military service in the Korean conflict, he began helping in the family business and began to expand it to include fence wire and other products necessary for constructing fence. Robert ran the business for many years.
After his parents moved to San Angelo, Raymond Meza started working early on at Twin Mountain Fence, along with his brothers and moved up to salesman after working a while as a loader and welder.
When Nickel decided to sell...