Barber recalls 50-year legacy of snipping

Retirement may never come for one of Bloomington’s longest running business owners.

Ward’s Downtown Barber Shop has been in operation since 1972, but owner Hyscel Ward has been trimming hair for even longer. After completing his barber training in Louisville, Ky., Ward arrived in Bloomington in June 1960.  

“There were 120 or 130 barbers when I first came to town. I doubt there’s 30 now,” Ward said. “There were just a lot more guys getting their hair cut back then. You had to get a haircut back in those days. If you wanted to be in college, you had to be in ROTC and you had to get your hair cut every damn week.”

Ward initially worked as a barber at Woody’s for five years. Then he landed another haircutting job out by College Mall for 10 years before finally settling in to his current shop on Walnut Street in 1975.

“I’ve been here ever since,” Ward said. “They tell me this is the oldest barbershop in the county.”

Ward’s Downtown Barbershop has been running for 38 years, but Ward doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon.

“My wife asks, ‘How many more years are you going to work?’ and I tell her, ‘I don’t think I’m going to retire,’” Ward said. “I tell (my clients), ‘I don’t think the house I live in with my wife is big enough for the two of us to live in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.’”

— Bronson DeLeon