Descriptive Summary
Texas Tech University. Southwest
Collection
Thurber, Texas
Collection,
1897-1986 and undated
This is an artificial
collection of interesting items concerning the Texas and Pacific Coal and Oil
Company and biographical information of the residents of Thurber,
Texas.
S 1076.1
Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library,
Texas Tech University
3 boxes (3.0 linear
feet)
English.
Biographical Sketch
Named for H. K. Thurber, a friend of the founders of the Texas and
Pacific Coal Company, Thurber, Texas was a company town. Coal was discovered by
W. W. Johnson (1886) who sold out to the Texas and Pacific Coal Company (1888)
who, in turn, sold the coal to the Texas and Pacific Railroad. The coal company
also produced a high quality paving brick. At its peak, Thurber had a
population of 10,000, including immigrant workers of at least 13 different
nationalities. Every structure within the city limits was company owned. The
stores, schools, churches and all medical care were provided to the workers by
the company as a part of their salary. The advancement of oil burning
locomotives cut the demand for coal, and the last coal mine in the area closed
in 1931. Only four structures remain in the city today.
Scope and Contents
This is an artificial collection built around an initial donation of
Thurber historical information compiled by the Texas and Pacific Coal and Oil
Company. The Southwest Collection built on this information by making an appeal
to former Thurber residents for historical background and by conducting
interviews at the yearly reunions at the Thurber town site. As a result, a
large body of information has been compiled which provides information on life,
culture, class system, strike actions, and politics of a company town around
the turn of the century. Information also exists about the life and customs of
immigrant workers. The interview forms also contain a wealth of genealogical
information about families who lived and worked there as well as do rent
records which indicate who lived in the town and when. The collection also
contains photographs and news clippings. Of particular interest is a manuscript
written for the twenty-fifth anniversary of Thurber, Texas.
Index Terms
The subject headings used by the Southwest Collection/Special
Collections Library are derived from the Library of Congress and/or locally
developed.
Subjects (Organizations)
Texas and Pacific Coal
Company
Thurber Historical
Association (Thurber, Tex.)
Places
Thurber
(Tex.)--History
Thurber
(Tex.)--Genealogy
Gifts, 1980s
Access Restrictions
Open for research
Processed by
Abel Ramirez, June 2002
Preferred Citation
Thurber, Texas Collection, 1897-1986 and undated, Southwest
Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University, Lubbock,
Texas
Additional Sources
Woodard, Don.
Black Diamonds! Black Gold!: the Saga of
Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company.Lubbock: Texas Tech University
Press, 1998.
Hardman, Weldon B.
Fire in a Hole!Gordon, Tex.: Thurber
Historical Association, 1975.
Gentry, Mary Jane.
Thurber, the Life and Death of a Texas
Town.Thesis (M.A.)--University of Texas, 1946.
Floyd, Willie M.
Thurber, Texas, an Abandoned Coal Field
Town.Thesis (M.A.)--Southern Methodist University, 1939.
For related materials located in the Southwest Collection/Special
Collections Library, see the following collections:
- Texas and Pacific Coal Company Records, 1887-1969 and undated
- Texas and Pacific Coal Company Records, 1889-1979 and undated
- Thurber, Texas Artifact Collection (21 items)
- Thurber, Texas Photograph Collection, SWCPC 209
- John Franks, oral history interview [sound recording], 1967
- Nell Turbow Lishman, oral history interview [sound recording],
1967
Collection Inventory
Correspondence
1
1
Looney, Ben F.,
1917-1927 and undated
Financial Material
1
2
Miscellaneous,
1897-1934
1
3
Texas and Pacific Coal and Oil Company Rent Book for
Buildings,
1930-1934
Literary Production
1
4
Data Submitted for 25th Anniversary Souvenir,
1913
1
5
Thurber Museum Study,
1969
Minutes
1
6
Thurber School District,
1924-1935
Printed Material
1
7
Applied Physics Laboratory Manual, textbook,
1924
1
8
Briggs-Weaver Machinery Company Catalog,
1913
1
9
Cookbook, Parent-Teacher Association,
1924
1
10
Ex-Student and Parent-Teacher Association,
1928-1964
1
11
News clippings,
1913-1983 and undated
1
12
Thurber Historical Association Bulletin,
1980
1
13
Thurber Tiny Journal,
1927-1930
Photographs
1
14
Miscellaneous,
1901-1927 and undated
1
15
Gordon Baines photographs,
1904-1964
1
16
Thurber, Texas Miscellaneous,
1908-1933 and undated
1
17
Thurber, Texas Miscellaneous,
1969 and undated
Thurber Historical Association
2
1
Biographical Information,
1967 and undated
2
2
Biographical Information,
1967 and undated
2
3
Mailing List,
1972
2
4
Membership List,
undated
2
5
Thurber Reunions,
1936-1963
3
12
Biographical Data Sheets, A-H,
1967
3
13
Biographical Data Sheets, J-M,
1967
3
14
Biographical Data Sheets, P-Z,
1967
Thurber Historical Society
2
6
Membership Cards,
1967
Scrapbook Material
3
1
Gordon Baines' hand notes on Thurber, Texas,
undated
3
2
Loose Scrapbook,
1911-1938 and undated
3
3
Loose Scrapbook,
1923-1933 and undated
3
4
Membership Cards of Thurber Old-Timers Association,
undated
3
5
Miscellaneous,
1965-1979
3
6
T. A. Parker's Scrapbook,
1908-1926 and undated
3
7
Thurber Baseball Team,
1909-1986 and undated
3
8
Thurber High School Diploma,
1929
3
9
Thurber Historical Notes and Images,
1964-1975 and undated
3
10
Thurber Parent-Teacher Association Scrapbook,
1931-1932
Artifact
3
11
West Texas Teachers Association Medal,
1927