Cornelius T. Herring

Colonel Cornelius Taylor Herring (November 13, 1849 – June 29, 1931) was an American rancher, banker and hotelier. He was the owner of up to five ranches in Texas. He was the founder of the Herring Bank. He built hotels in Vernon and Amarillo, Texas. He served as the first chairman of the West Texas Chamber of Commerce.

Early life Cornelius Taylor Herring was born on November 13, 1849, in Sherman County, Texas. His father was Jesse Herring and his mother, Sarah Friend. His mother died when he was ten years old.

Herring invested in cattle with Bill Stinson in the late 1880s. later known as the Herring National Bank and finally the Herring Bank in Vernon, Texas. By the late 1890s, he raised cattle in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Lyon County, Kansas. He also purchased the Kit Carson Ranch, the "Y Ranch near Paducah, the H-Anchor Ranch near Crowell, a ranch in the Big Bend country, and farming interests in Hartley and Moore counties."

Herring joined the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. By 1919, he served as the first chairman of the West Texas Chamber of Commerce. He also served as the president of the Tri-State Fair Association. He built the Herring Hotel, a 14-story hotel, for US$1 million, in 1925. He was buried at the Llano Cemetery in Amarillo.

Herring's mansion in Amarillo was demolished in 1970. It is now a parking lot near the Amarillo Museum of Art.