Helium Entrepreneur

— 1916-1980 —

Amarillo's status as the "Helium Capital of the World" can be traced back to the efforts on one man, Jack B. Kelley.

Kelley was born in 1916 in Sherman, Texas and moved to Amarillo in 1925. He attended Amarillo High School and in 1941 went on to serve in World War II in the U.S. Navy. He left the service in 1945 as a chief petty officer. A young entrepreneur with a big dream, Jack B. Kelley parlayed his $500 separation pay from the navy into a conglomerate of of corporations that do business on a global scale.

In 1946, he became the first civilian to secure a government contract to purchase and transport helium. Jack then began supplying helium to a welding research firm, a toy balloon manufacturer in New York City and various carnivals and circuses that traveled throughout the greater Texas Panhandle.

In 1960 with the expansion of the space program, the demand for helium heightened to new levels. To meet that need Jack designed and patented tube trailers that maximized load capacity and transportation efficiency; by the 1970s, he was manufacturing 95 percent of the tube trailers in the United States.

In 1961, Jack was awarded the first civilian contract from the Interstate Commerce Commission to transport helium in the United States. By the late 1960s, he was operating seven companies that provided services around the globe in the compressed gas industry.

Jack B. Kelley died June 9, 1980. His legacy lives on as his family's contributions to the worlds of business, innovation and philanthropy continue in the Texas Panhandle and around the world.

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1983 Relocation of the Helium Monument
Helium Time Columns
Smith-Rogers House
Amarillo Helium Plant
William Henry Bush
Amarillo Natatorium ("The Nat")
Route 66 in Amarillo
Northwest Texas Hospital School of Nursing
St. Mary's Academy
Alice Victoria Ghormley Curtis House

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