by Lea Hart While reflecting on the abundance of Thurber history in our collections for this blog post, I found my gaze reflected back at me. Our Alberson collection features a set of four rectangular framed mirrors, one of them with a minor spot warped with age where the glass...
by: Shae Adams If you’ve been following us this year, you know that we’ve been highlighting artifacts from our collection. These tangible objects give us insight into the lives of those who called Thurber home. This month we’re spotlighting a slightly different type of artifact that gets to the heart...
by Cameron Mitchell February’s object happens to be almost a century old. This C.G. Conn trombone, manufactured in 1926, produced years of tunes that echoed in music venues across the great state of Texas. The slim bell and lightweight frame was perfect for marching along the unpaved streets of Thurber....
by Shae Adams “This meant that the miners were away from home twelve hours and fifteen minutes every day they worked, and gave rise to a complaint that the only opportunity a miner had to see his children was on Sunday, as they were engaged in peaceful slumber when he...
by: Lea Hart One of the commonly mentioned topics within the historical interviews in the W.K. Gordon Center collections is Christmas time in Thurber. For instance, during Charles Boston’s interview he mentions how amazing the Drug Store’s upper floor was decorated for the holiday and how as children they would see...
by: Katie GaudetteIn the generations since the first 1621 celebration, Thanksgiving has become a time to reflect on the good in our lives. We celebrate relationships, happy events, and prosperity with feasts and parties that often bring us even closer with family and friends. During these celebrations, we bring out...
By Edna Tate I have a hobby. Do you? Mine is low energy and can take you many places. Guess what it is. Mud wrestling? No! Taking guided tours of Walmart? No! My favorite hobby is touring cemeteries where you can see the events of history tied together.A great place...
By Cameron Mitchell We all know Labor Day in the United States is the last big celebration as the unofficial end of summer. Officials supervising Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company’s town of Thurber, Texas, made sure all of its residents had a great time in the summertime jubilee. Instead...
By Lea HartHistorical interviews serve as a window into a past most of us will most likely never be able to fathom. Thurber interviews detail smaller bits of history not everyone thinks of: daily life. Some detail their favorite teacher with her long black skirt, white shirt with lace down...
By Katie Gaudette Once upon a time, weddings were simple affairs laden with tradition that gave them great meaning. Today weddings are a multi-billion dollar industry. Every bride is convinced that she needs to spend thousands of dollars on this special event. In the rush to get every detail right,...
By Cameron Mitchell As America’s favorite pastime, millions welcome baseball into their homes every season. Over the years, Thurber showed a love for the sport equal to modern-day spectators. Hershel Gibson, a former Thurber resident, once said that a woman’s hose would be sewn together to make a ball if...
By Lindsey Light In December of 1902, A. B. “Bert” Marston arrived at the Stilwell Hotel in Pittsburg, Kansas, to gather African American workers to go with him to Thurber, Texas, to mine coal. Marston was the assistant storekeeper of the Texas Pacific Mercantile and Manufacturing Company (TPM&M). TPM&M was...
By Matt Stephenson The Obel family moved to Palo Pinto County, from Montgomery County, Alabama, in the early 1880s. Phillip Wilhelm Obel purchased farm land at Mingus and went to work as a butcher in Thurber located two miles south. His two sons, John Phillip (J.P.) and William (Will) Reinhold...
By Matt Stephenson Northern Erath and southern Palo Pinto Counties were the largest coal producing areas in the state of Texas from the late 1880s until 1946. In the region, the coal industry centered on the Texas & Pacific Coal Company (T&P) mines. In fact, in the mid-1890s T&P conducted...
By Lindsey Light In 1928 the Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company opened its first TP Aero Brand filling station in present-day downtown Fort Worth, Texas in the middle of the wide intersection at West Seventh Street and Camp Bowie Boulevard. It was designed in a unique octagonal shape and...
By Matt Stephenson Coal mining is one of the most dangerous occupations in the world. In Thurber miners worked in coal seams that were often two to twenty feet thick. They spent the day hunched over or lying on their sides using hand tools and explosives to break coal deposits...
By staff When a coal mining company established a town, it often built a church, a school, a saloon, and a general mercantile. In some cases miners, company employees, and their families could purchase goods only at that location. In Thurber the store began as a small commissary that dealt...
By David Buster At one time, Thurber was the largest city between Fort Worth and El Paso boasting some 10,000 plus residents. The most important coal mining site in the state of Texas, it was a major manufacturer of paving bricks and the headquarters of the company that discovered the...
By special guest blogger Bethany Kolter Dodson Texas has a long-practiced tradition of quilt making. Young girls routinely learned the skill because patchwork became a common style of bedding during the westward expansion. Patchwork provided a colorful and practical way to use old clothing and small scraps of material both...
By Matt Stephenson The call to arms prompted by the entry of the United States into World War I was answered by many young men in the nation. In the community of Thurber, Texas, Homer G. Harris was one such young man. Homer was born January 3, 1896, in Bell...