Our Unique Hot Link History
Our Story
Sausage Warehouse is a family-owned and operated business based out of Pittsburg, the Hot Link Capital of Texas. We trace our roots back to the 1940s with the first generation of the Warrick family Hot Link makers. Our family's first brick-and-mortar store, E. B. Warrick Hot Links, was established in 1960. In 1962, Gene Warrick, the son of E. B. Warrick, started Warrick's Hot Links. Over the years, Gene and his wife Madeline had six children: Teresa, Sabin, Selena, Tina, Sala, and Sonya. All of them, at one time or another, have been involved in the Hot Link business, and some continue it to this day. That dedication is what people now recognize as The Pittsburg Hot Link Restaurant on 136 Marshall Street. If you haven't tried a Hot Link, one bite and you'll be hooked!
Hot Link History
How Hot Links came to be in Camp County
Today, visitors from all over come to try the famous Pittsburg Hot Links. It's a delicacy dating back to the late 1800s. In 1897, Mr. Charles Hasselback, of German descent, brought the Hot Link recipe to Camp County. Today, they are known as the registered trademarked PITTSBURG® brand Hot Link. Charles Hasselback has long been given credit for producing the first hot links, but the question is who taught him?
It is said that Charlie Hasselback was a traveling baseball player. While traveling through Texas, he met and married Miss Fred, the daughter of H. Fred, a prominent grocery businessman in Pittsburg. Looking back at Mr. Hasselback’s roots, he may have received his food training from his in laws. Charles Hasselback’s meat market was located in the “Old Maddox Building” on Main Street. He sold the links over the counter for preparation at home.
Due to the popularity, Mr. Hasselback built an addition on to the back of his building in 1918 and began serving cooked links. The surroundings were not elaborate---wooden counters and benches. Back then, the links were sold in a very similar fashion as they are today. The links would be served with crackers on heavy market paper and a special hot sauce in soda water bottles. The links were 2 for five cents, 5 for ten cents and a dozen for a quarter. You could eat them there or carry them out - a custom that became popular for many households. Word about these delicious links traveled quickly.
Pittsburg, at that time, had two railroad lines and before long train crews started scheduling stopovers in Pittsburg for their noon and early evening meals. Truckers and traveling salesmen would also arrive for their meals. Citizens from other towns loved the links so much they tried to match the flavor in their grocery stores and meat markets, but were unsuccessful.
What happens when someone creates a popular product? Of course, everyone tries to join the bandwagon! From 1920 to the 1950s, many grocers and market owners created, sold and served hot links – mostly as a back-of-building process. To highlight just how popular this product became, here are some of the people and locations that sold hot links in Pittsburg: O.O. Smith, The Busy Bee Market, Jim Cheatham, W.R. Spearman, Smith & Shell Grocery and Hess & Hill Grocery.
History of Pittsburg
Pittsburg, Texas, has a deep history that dates back to when the Caddo Indians occupied the area, long before European settlers arrived. In the 1830s, pioneers from the southeastern United States started to settle in the region. W. H. Pitts, after whom the town is named, settled there in 1855 and began farming on a 200-acre tract of land. As the settlement grew, it eventually required a formal structure and was named Pittsburg.
With the county seat inconveniently located 22 miles away in Gilmer, local citizens, facing difficulties due to flooded creeks, lobbied for the creation of a new county in 1874. The newly formed Camp County was named after John Lafayette Camp, a distinguished local soldier and politician. After some debate over the location of the county courthouse, Pitts secured Pittsburg as the county seat by offering land and funds for construction, leading to the building of a two-story brick courthouse.
Pittsburg's prosperity was significantly boosted by the arrival of the East Line and Red River Railroad in 1877 and the Cotton Belt in 1880. The town was also the site of the first Carnegie Library in Texas, which housed city offices and an auditorium. The Northeast Texas Livestock and Agricultural Fair, once the second-largest fair in the state, drew visitors from all over. Notably, Pittsburg claims to have witnessed the first parachute jump from an airplane at this fair.
In modern times, Pittsburg is known for its historic downtown area and community events, representing a blend of historical heritage and contemporary development. The city maintains its small-town charm while adapting to modern needs, making it an interesting and unique place in Texas history.