Fort Stockton natives Heather Elliott, her husband Tyler Elliott, and her brother Matt Garvin have a few things in common when it comes to the places they love and what they enjoy doing.

The downtown area of Fort Stockton is a location they all equally love.

When the they travel together, they enjoy a good restaurant and bar wherever they go.

That led to vision that the three shared - starting a bar and restaurant in the historic downtown area in Fort Stockton that featured an exclusive outdoor venue.

Something unlike any other business to the place they call home.

“We love to travel and every time we go somewhere, we always focus on where we’re going to eat and get a drink. And we love the outside Heather said. “So we were like, you know what, we need something here that is historic in the downtown part to where people can go and hangout. Just have a chill atmosphere to where it’s not in a smoky bar.”

In 2018, the Elliott’s and Garvin began their journey to starting their business by buying a piece of property located at 207 E. Callaghan St. - near the Annie Riggs Memorial Museum and The Grey Mule winery.

On the property is a building that was once known as The Young Store, the first open business in Fort Stockton that began in 1876.

That led to the Elliott’s and Garvin deciding to name their bar The Old 76.

“We’re trying to keep the history!’ Heather said.

Before the bar and venue was built the owners renovated the Achterburg House into an Airbnb rental -- a structure that is located right next to the bar to the north.

The construction of the bar soon followed, and the business held its soft opening on Dec. 19, 2020.

The construction of the venue was done by Elliott’s and Garvin, taking approximately three months for it all to come together.

“We all did it. This was all our work. We planted the trees. We built the porch. We did the gravel!’ she said. “It was probably October to December that took us to build it.”

As for the building that used to be The Young Store, Heather said in 3-5 years they plan to make into a classical restaurant. The hope is to keep as much of the original structure as possible.

“It’s such a historic place, we love it. We want to make it look like it used to; Heather said. “We’re eventually going to make that into a restaurant but for now we wanted to do a bar and an outdoor something because we don’t have a place here to sit outdoors.”

Adding to the uniqueness of The Old 76 is the beer selection that they carry while running four taps at all times.

“We got four taps. So, we were trying to keep one beer there all the time, but I think we’ll switch them out. See what works and we got a seasonal right now and we want to do a seasonal for at least one tap; Heather said.

The 2008 Fort Stockton High School graduate said they wanted The Old 76 to carry beers that are local and ones that you can’t run to your local store to get.

“We wanted to carry beers and drinks that you can’t find in a lot of places. That’s another thing, we wanted to make sure you have a selection where you can’t just to Walmart or the liquor store and grab it then go home. To where you can only get that here,” she said.

The Old 76 also serves wine, sodas such as Coke and Dr. Pepper, along with little snacks such as chips, trail mix, and Cheez-Its.

In the back of the business there is a gated opening that leads to a food truck, which is currently Phillies.

Heather added that the food truck is almost always there and there will possibly be more there in the future.

“Right now, it’s Phillies. Someone’s actually contacted him and wanting to park up here too. If we have someone else who wants to and they’re good food and good people, then we wouldn’t mind if they park next to them and maybe doing 2-3 eventually.”

Outside of food and drinks the venue has cornhole boards, an array of wooden benches and tables to sit at with portable patio heaters.

The drinks and food is served in a trailer like building with a canape covering that includes a bar area. Future plans for the current venue are to add a grill, more games, and even live music to accommodate more guests.

“We’ve talked about cooking stuff on a grill out here and doing stuff like that. And we’ll definitely expand in that way; Heather said. “We want to get horseshoe’s and other games as well.”

The business can be reserved for birthday parties and group gatherings if desired.

The Old 76 is closed on Monday’s and open Tuesday through Sunday. Tuesday and Wednesday’s hours are 3-8 p.m. Thursday is 2-10 p.m., Friday is 2-11 p.m., Saturday is 1-11 p.m., and Sunday is 2-6 p.m.