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...
By special guest blogger LeAnna Schooley When the descendant of a former Thurber resident contacts the Gordon Center looking for information, the request always makes its way to me. As curator, I use research to identify artifacts, develop exhibits, and dig out the true tales of life in our company...
By special guest blogger, Stephanie Winnett Indigestion? Nausea? Hypertension? Fever? Headache? Today, you would drive to the local pharmacy for an over-the-counter medication to cure what ails you. However, at the turn-of-the-century, in rural areas like those around Mingus and Thurber, people relied on country doctors. Dr. John T. Spratt...
By Mary Adams Thurber, Texas, located approximately 70 miles west of Fort Worth, was a self-sufficient town in many aspects thanks in part to the Texas Pacific Mercantile and Manufacturing Company, a subsidiary of Texas and Pacific Coal Company. TPM & M provided for the material needs and desires of...
By David Buster At its peak, Thurber, Texas, boasted some 10,000 plus residents. While this figure may seem small by today’s standards, Thurber was once the largest city between Ft. Worth and El Paso and one of the state’s most renowned industrial sites. It was home to Americans from every...
By Mary Adams Beginning in 1897, the Green and Hunter Brick Company, later known as the Thurber Brick Company, produced, and sold a special heavy-duty brick called a paver to many cities and towns in Texas. Roads in and around the stockyards and Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth, Congress...