This will be my 20th year as a resident of Texas and its still fun learning about all the awesome things that are in this big beautiful state.

Now I know when you watch TV you see ad campaigns from BIG companies that are exclusively for Texas consumers, but I saw a commercial one day from a big fast food chain that peaked my curiosity about their origin story.

 Church's Chicken Started In Texas 70 Years Ago...

I was seeing ads from Church's highlighting "Texas" and how its in the "Great State Of Flavor" and I thought it was just a way to get Texans motivated to go buy more Church's but turns out the company was founded in Texas in 1952 in San Antonio.

Its First Location Was Across The Street From The Alamo.

According to MySa.com, Church’s Fried Chicken To-Go, as it was known, opened in Alamo Plaza in 1952. The chain was founded by George W. Church Sr., a retired chicken incubator salesman.

Mr. Church was a visionary, it was his idea to put the fryers next to the counter windows so customers could see the food being prepared while waiting for their order. In those early days, you could grab a two piece with a roll for just .59 cents....adjusted for inflation today it would $5.49 (I'm just kidding).

It Didn't Take Long For Church's To Expand Rapidly

Just 4 years after opening up its first location in 1956, Church’s Fried Chicken had four locations in San Antonio. By 1967, the chain had restaurants in five other Texas cities and would later become the first Texas-based chain to go national.

After the company went public in 1969, Church’s had locations in seven states by the end of the year. The reason for its success was due to Church's opening locations in low income areas while its competitors avoided them.

Since Then Church's Has Gone International While Still Showing Texas Love

There are now over 900 Church's Chicken locations in the U.S. as well as outposts in Asia, Australia, Africa, and Europe.

Internationally, and interestingly, the chain is marketed overseas as Texas Chicken. Still representing!