The company’s roots track back to an old grocery store located in Vernon Texas. The grocery store was owned by one of our founders, Egbert Elam Eggleston. In 1922 one of Egbert’s sons, Fay, and a son-in-law, Roy Wright, began Vernon Meat Company in the back part of the store. The first products were produced by other companies and then re-wrapped under the Crown and Delite labels. 

The first bacon that Vernon Meat sold wasn’t processed by the methods we use now. Because there was little refrigeration, dry salt pork bellies were converted into bacon. These bellies were delivered to Vernon by railroad cars. The bellies were soaked in water to wash the salt off and then liquid smoke was applied with a paintbrush. This was done in a building at Roy Wright’s home. 

It wasn’t until about 1926 that Vernon Meat Company built its own building. It had a shipping room, a sausage kitchen, some coolers, several wrapping and boxing tables, and an office. Much of Vernon Meat’s business was still from reselling other companies products. Besides meat, Vernon Meat also distributed tea, vinegar, cheese, beans, syrup, and preserves. 

About the same time the plant was being built, other Eggleston sons and sons-in-law joined the business as salesmen and shipping clerk. Roy Wright managed the production of the company. 

By 1933 a slaughterhouse was added to the plant and eventually the volume averaged about 900 head of cattle and 600 hogs a week. In 1938 Vernon Meat suffered a large fire that started in the smokehouse and destroyed most of the plant. The family members built a new federally inspected plant and renamed the company Vernon Packing Company. Its USDA inspection number was 577. Vernon Packing’s main label was the EEE brand — after Egbert Eggleston’s initials. 

During World War II the ownership changed and Roy Wright and his oldest son Bill left that building and started the present facility which was known as Wright Packing Company. Roy Wright’s youngest son, Bob, a schoolteacher, soon joined his father and brother in their new business. Little by little Wright Packing’s reputation grew, and by the 1960’s it had 225 employees processing 800 cattle and 5000 hogs per week. 

In the mid-70’s, the company started to rely less on slaughtering and more on processing. In 1978, Roy Wright retired. The family then decided to get out of the slaughter business and specialize in what they did best — processing. After studying the industry and market, they decided to focus on bacon and hams. They were especially interested in bulk bacon for food service and grocery stores with meat markets. The partnership was changed to a corporation and the name became Wright Meat Packing Company, Inc. In 1986, the name was changed once again, this time to Wright Brand Foods, Inc. 

It has taken years to convert the plant into the new processing company. In 1982 a new derind room was built. In 1983 a new ham boning, curing and smoking area was added. In 1984 a new shipping room, warehouse and freezer were completed. In 1987 and 1988 a new breakroom, office and locker rooms were constructed. We completed a freezer expansion and ham room expansion in 1992 and a new Maintenance building in 1993. An expansion to the smokehouses was completed in the fall of 1995, a new Shipping Room, a pre-cooked bacon line, new chill coolers, and a new trailer shop were completed in 1998, along with substantial infrastructural improvements necessary for further expansion. In 1999 Wright Brand Foods is beginning another major expansion that will improve production efficiencies.

In 1994 both Bill and Bob Wright retired after having worked together for a combined total of approximately 120 years! Today the forth generation descendants that are working in the company are Dan Wright, Kelly Wright and Kirk Eggleston. Additionally, Brad Bolton, a fifth generation member, is the company engineer. 

By the end of 1998 — 20 years after changing from a full-line meat packer and processor to a bacon and ham specialist — Wright Brand Foods grew to 650 employees. Production in tonnage has increased in those years by thousands of percent. 

The future of Wright Brand Foods looks as good as its past. The company is also looking at other innovations that will keep us at the forefront of the meat processing industry. The key to the success of Wright Brand Foods in the past will continue to be its driving force in the future: we exist to serve our customers! 

More than 60 years have passed since John Tyson drove his battered truck to Chicago to deliver a load of 500 Arkansas chickens.

Tyson heard that chickens were bringing a better price in northern markets, so he cashed in his savings and borrowed the rest of the money he needed to finance the trip. He sold the birds for a profit of $235, $220 of which he wired home to pay on his debts and buy another load of birds.

Out of that trip sprung the foundations of a company that would revolutionize the poultry industry. We invite you to walk through time and discover how the world's largest poultry company rose out of the soil of Northwest Arkansas

Vernon College

Students at Vernon College, a community college near the Red River in north Texas, may choose from a variety of degree and certificate programs. Many VC students take academic coursework in preparation for transfer to a 4-year college or university. Others concentrate on technical/workforce courses to enhance job skills or prepare for a new career.

VC students enjoy small class sizes and personal contact with faculty, administrators, and staff. Distance learning classes are enjoyed by students who live far from the campus as well as by those in Vernon and Wichita Falls who have difficulty fitting on-campus classes into their busy schedules

Texas A&M Reasurch Center

The Center is located on US Hwy 70 about 6 miles southwest of Vernon, TX on a 51 acre tract of land donated by the Lockett family. Numerous local individuals and organizations provided donations for the establishment of the Center.  Among these was a substantial gift from the E. Paul and Helen Buck Waggoner Foundation.  An additional 25 acres of farmland across US 70 from the Center was donated by the Pioneer Seed Company in 1988.  The Center conducts research involving wheat varieties, evaluation of new or specialized crops, forage and grazing management, soil fertility, weed control, insects, and integrated ranch management for livestock and wildlife production.

The Texas A&M University System Research and Extension Center at Vernon was established in 1971 and opened in September 1972.  The Center was designed to provide support for agricultural enterprises of the Rolling Plains region of Texas.  Research activities are conducted by scientists of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station while Extension programs are conducted by county agents and specialists of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service who take this research based information to the citizens.  The Center is headquarters for Extension District 3, which contains 25 counties in North Central Texas.