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Harry Earnest (H.E.) Cummins was born in Clay Center, Nebraska on April 17th, 1894. He made his way to northwest Oklahoma as a small boy when his family purchased farms just west of Nash. From his youth, H.E. demonstrated an uncommon mechanical aptitude and work ethic. Up until his induction into the army, his adolescence was taken up entirely by work on farms, rail yards, and construction projects.
In 1921, after his tour of duty in France, he returned to Nash and married Lola Helen Payne. He also purchased a new Baker Steam Traction Engine, which he used in his first venture—a custom wheat threshing business.
During the Great Depression H.E. worked as a machinist for the Frisco Railroad. To make ends meet, he also apprenticed himself to a homebuilder and learned the rudiments of building construction. The first structure he built was a residence at 1512 East Maple. Building homes became H.E.’s second business venture. It was while he was establishing this business that he and Helen had their children: Jim, Harry Jr., and Bob.
H.E. established himself as a commercial builder in the 1930s when H.H. Champlin gave him the opportunity to build some of his many filling stations. As WWII neared its end, his three sons (all serving in the South Pacific) received letters from their father with a return address labeled H.E. Cummins and Sons Construction Company. On the same letterhead, he invited them to join him in the commercial building business.
Together they established a regional construction conglomerate that eventually outgrew commercial building. With his sons, H.E. would eventually make his greatest contribution in the transportation construction marketplace. With their earthmoving, bridge building, steel fabrication facilities, equipment dealerships, and paving operations, the businesses launched by H.E. Cummins would help shape Oklahoma’s surface and river transportation infrastructure as much as any other Oklahoma contractor.
H.E. was an avid hunter and fisherman. After he had fully passed his responsibilities on to his sons, he purchased Fontanel Resort, a small fishing lodge on Lake Black Duck near Bemidji, Minnesota. During the summers he and Helen made Fontanel their home where H.E passed on his love of the outdoors to at least a few of his grandchildren.
In his acceptance speech as Enid’s Man of the Year in 1970, he only mentioned his business ventures in passing. He said, “My greatest contribution to Enid was giving it three fine sons to carry on the family’s service to this community.”
After a long battle with heart disease, Harry Earnest Cummins passed away on May 14th, 1973.
The following are notable projects built by H.E. Cummins & Sons Inc.:
Champlin Filling stations as far North as Kearney, Nebraska
Goldsberry Electric Company on North Grand
The Seven Up and Dr. Pepper Building on North Independence
The Oklahoma Farm Machinery Company on North Independence
Leo Neal’s Ford Dealership (next to the Seven Up Building)
The Superior Service Station and Restaurant on Rock Island Blvd.
Methodist Church in Jet, Ok
Methodist Church in Hunter, Ok
The Hunter School Building
The Gymnasium and Pool Wing to Enid High School in 1948 and ‘49
The Enid Sewage Disposal Plant
Union Equity Office Building at 10th and East Willow
The Learner Building at Independence and Randolph
The First United Methodist Church Education Building
Western Oklahoma Hospital at Ft. Supply—new Hospital, Women’s and Men’s Ward Buildings
Oklahoma Department of Transportation Headquarters in Perry, Ok
Arrowhead Dam south of Wichita Falls, Texas
Bridges too numerous to mention, scattered over Oklahoma, including the I-40 Bridge that was toppled by a runaway barge
The Port of Muskogee
Various structures that were part of the McClellan Kerr River Navigation Project
The Cummins Construction Company
This entity was the last of H.E.’s many ventures and was led by his youngest son Bob. It is the only remaining Cummins business and is now owned by the company’s employees. Cummins Construction has helped build and maintain every major highway and turnpike in Oklahoma as well as innumerable city and county roads and airports. It is the largest producer of hot mix asphalt in the state of Oklahoma and one of the state’s largest general contracting firms.