{"id":2411,"date":"2021-05-14T20:42:04","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T20:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter-test\/?page_id=2411"},"modified":"2026-04-07T09:45:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:45:13","slug":"2411-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter\/2411-2\/","title":{"rendered":"About History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:41% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2021\/07\/Gordon-Center-Museum_9239.jpg\" alt=\"Vintage car displayed in a museum setting.\" class=\"wp-image-3287 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2021\/07\/Gordon-Center-Museum_9239.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2021\/07\/Gordon-Center-Museum_9239-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide advgb-dyn-480a6dd9\">Our Mission<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>The mission of the W.K. Gordon Museum and Research Center is to provide educational resources on the industrial history of Thurber and greater Texas, and to preserve, document and interpret that history and its impact on the people of Texas.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading advgb-dyn-5624591d\">Our museum is located in Thurber, TX<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Thurber was one of the most important mine sites in Texas, a major manufacturer of paving bricks, and located near the oil field that helped make Texas a worldwide giant in petroleum production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The entire town of Thurber \u2014 every nail, shingle, and doorknob \u2014 was owned by the Texas and Pacific Coal Company. Residents lived in company houses, shopped at company stores, drank at company saloons, attended company schools, and worshipped in company-owned church buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people traveled from around the world \u2014 including Italy, Poland, Ireland, and Russia \u2014 to live and work in Thurber. This immigrant influence helped create the unique environment of the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The W.K. Gordon Museum offers a glimpse into another time and place. Hear stories about life in Thurber from the residents themselves. Examine informative exhibits featuring historic photos and fascinating artifacts. Watch motion film of Thurber residents at work and play. Stroll past reconstructions of the mercantile store, the livery stable, the town bandstand, the 655-seat opera house, and the Snake Saloon, which boasted one of the largest horseshoe-shaped bars in the country. Find out what happened when the discovery of oil disturbed the delicate balance between company and community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The W. K. Gordon Museum and Research Center for Industrial History of Texas, a research facility of Tarleton State University, is a combined museum and special collections library. Located at the site of the Thurber ghost town, its interactive exhibits explore the birth and death of a company town.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our Mission The mission of the W.K. Gordon Museum and Research Center is to provide educational resources on the industrial history of Thurber and greater Texas, and to preserve, document &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-fullwidth.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2411","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"coauthors":[],"author_meta":{"author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter\/author\/brian-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3\/","display_name":"brian"},"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 5 years ago","modified":"Updated 5 days ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 05\/14\/2021","modified":"Updated on 04\/07\/2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 05\/14\/2021 20:42","modified":"Updated on 04\/07\/2026 09:45"},"featured_img_caption":"","featured_img":false,"series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2411"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4179,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2411\/revisions\/4179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}