Estine's Eastside Barber Shop

Tatiana Rodriguez
Sep 10
2 min read

By Tatiana Rodriguez

Estine Davis, the owner of Estine's Eastside Barber Shop, was born in 1932 in East Texas and moved to El Paso in 1938. She attended Douglass School, which was El Paso's segregated school for African American students, before attending barber school in Tyler, Texas. After graduating, Davis returned to El Paso and cut hair at many barbershops around the city, including one at Fort Bliss, where she charged a $1.50 per haircut.1 She began to work at her godfather's barbershop in 1959 located at 106 N. Piedras St. In 1962, he gave the keys to her, and the shop became a gathering place for El Paso's African American community. Davis also established Estine Fashion Models and helped coordinate the Miss Black El Paso Pageant.2

Davis used to look out of her shop's windows toward Alameda Ave. and remembered there used to be troughs outside her shop that held water for horses. She also remembered a trading post that once stood across the intersection of Piedras and Alameda. During the 60 years she has owned her barbershop, she has cut thousands of people's hair, including Little Richard, the Harlem Globetrotters, El Paso police Chief Greg Allen, Hall of Fame college basketball coach Nolan Richardson,3 railroad workers, and many servicemen stationed at Fort Bliss. On June 16, 2021, Davis was given a commendation from the Texas House of Representatives for her community contributions and work ethic. The award was written and passed by state Rep. Art Fierro, D-El Paso.4

Estine Davis retired on September 1, 2022, and her barbershop was "the last remaining business in what was once the heart of El Paso's Black commercial corridor."5 Recently, her son, Michael Davis, with the help of the Eastside-Central Coalition and Shiloh Baptist Church, turned the barbershop into a museum and tribute to African American owned businesses part of Central El Paso's Black Wall Street from the 1950s to '60s.6 The museum features neon signs of businesses that used to exist in Central El Paso, including the House of Charm beauty shop and Noble's Records. It also has maps and lists of Black owned businesses in the Alameda, Bassett, Manzana, Myrtle, and Piedras areas. The Black Businesses Living Museum opened on March 7, 2025.

On the other hand, Michael Davis remembers when U.S. Interstate 10 was created, dividing neighborhoods in Central El Paso and forcing residents to move. Some properties were "acquired by the state through eminent domain, and Davis said he is keeping an eye on the Texas Department of Transportation's plans to expand I-10 from Executive Center [Boulevard] to Copia" Street.7