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...