April 15, 2021 - Johnstone Financial is relocating from the suburbs of Portland, Oregon to Center, Texas. The JR Smith Building on San Augustine Street on the Shelby county square is being renovated and occupied by Johnstone Brokerage Services (JBS), a FINRA member broker-dealer. The brokerage services business provides client support for annuity investments and mutual funds. Most of the work performed by JBS is back office, administrative, regulatory, and supervisory in nature.
Architect rendition of façade
Grant Johnstone, the CEO founder of Johnstone Financial, traces his roots back to the Wilson family farm near Jericho, south of Center. Oscar Lee Wilson and Lela Warr Wilson purchased the Wilson farm in 1893 and raised a family of 8 children, Elsie, Naomi, Frances, Thelma, Ruth, Nathaniel, Travis, Pate, who all raised families in or near Shelby County. Ruth, the youngest daughter, raised her son, James, as a single mother with his father’s name “Johnstone”. Little is known of James’ father, but his mother, Ruth, worked a lifetime at the first-floor corner office of the County Clerk’s building on the Shelby County square. Ruth’s office faced the JR Smith building, and rumor has it, they shared a mutual dislike for each other.
Wilson Farm
James Johnstone, Grant’s father and Ruth’s son, was a star athlete and top student at Center High and went on to achieve great things at Baylor, then at NASA, and finally at IBM, where he opened markets in Russia, India, and China during the 1970s and 80s. James’ fascinating career took him from Texas around the globe, and finally back to Houston, all with his family in tow. After retiring from IBM, James began working as a financial consultant as an excuse to stay busy, and after just a few years, his son, Grant joined him. New clients learned of the Johnstones by word of mouth, and before long, they had clients in 40 states. James retired again in 2003, and Grant continued to build upon the legacy by founding Johnstone Financial Advisors in 2005 and Johnstone Brokerage Services in 2019. James passed away in 2012, and he and his wife, Barbara, are buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Jericho, across the street from the Wilson farm.
James Johnstone Center High School Senior
James Johnstone Center High School Football
When looking for a corporate headquarters for his companies, Grant chose the JR Smith building that faces his grandmother’s office on the county square. The JR Smith building is now being restored in the spirit of the original 1910 style using modern materials. The building is believed to have originally been a pool hall above a grocery store. The top floor is surrounded by windows designed to allow cool air to circulate. Those top floor windows had been knocked out over the years, leaving the building open to the elements in recent years. (See Editor's note below) The second floor will eventually be structurally reinforced to create an open event space for receptions and parties.
Second Floor pre-remodel
The restoration of the top floor uncovered an original door from the original Elliott & Waldron Abstract Title Company in Center. Despite the second floor being open to the elements in recent years (See Editor's note below), the floors remained remarkably straight and strong because they were built with 300 year old long leaf pine, a local wood variety that was completely deforested by 1910. A curious fact about the building: only 4 windows out of the 18 windows on the top floor are the same size. All of the other windows are different sizes, even though they may appear the same from street level. When asked about the rumored escape tunnel that has been said to extend from the historic courthouse to the former law office building, Johnstone merely said he is committed to preserving the closely guarded secret.
Grant Johnstone in front of JR Smith Building
Editor's Note: The duration of time the windows on the second floor were broken and exposing the inside of the building to the elements was much shorter than originally mentioned in the article. A member of the Smith Family gave some updated historical information regarding the building up to 2011.
