Get the Buzz on This Barbershop's Wacky 50-Year History

Local one-chair barbershop celebrates a major milestone.

Buchanan Barbershop promises great haircuts and a wacky history. Since opening in 1968, the barbershop has had six owners — each with his own layered tale.

John “Sparky” Crawford, the first owner, was known to be a big gambler but rarely won. If Sparky remembered there was a race going on while he was cutting a customer’s hair, he would leave, mid-cut, place his bets, and come back after the race had finished.

Sparky’s brother, Hank “Yaewbow” Crawford, took over after Sparky retired in the ’90s. Yaewbow was an avid smoker. While cutting hair, he would place the cigarette behind his ear while lit, allegedly leaving a cigarette mark in his head. Though cuts were only $5, customers had to put up with smoke in the face and Yaewbow’s political diatribes. Local legend says that Yaewbow died in the shop chair, with a can of beer in his hand, watching TV.

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The current owner, Mark Young, has acquired his stories since buying the shop almost three years ago.

As it happens, Young has worked on many autistic kids. One time, Young followed an autistic boy around the shop while cutting his hair with cordless clippers. Since Young learned that many autistic kids are frightened by haircuts, he does whatever makes them most comfortable.

“I don’t care what style of hair you choose; I care that you are happy when you leave,” Young says.

Outside of Buchanan Barbershop is a sandwich-board-style sign that Young uses to entertain and amuse the community, sporting such aphorisms as “We Stock All-Natural Kosher Free-Range Organic Haircuts” and “I Scream; You Scream; the Police Come; It’s a Problem.”

Young assures that two things you can count on when coming into his shop are a good time and a good cut. “There’s so much more to a haircut than getting your hair cut,” Young says. “When people come in, they want a good experience.”

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