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History in
a Pecan Shell
The town's namesake
is said to be Pleasant Thorp who settled in the region prior
to the Civil War. Hostile Indians discouraged settlement until the
early 1870s. In 1871 Sam Milliken purchased part of the old Thorp
homestead and built a cotton gin. Since medicinal springs were in
fashion, Milliken also built a resort hotel and touted the nearby
springs.
In 1873 Mr. Clark and his two sons Addison and Randolph opened Add-Ran
College (later to become Add-Ran Christian University which later
evolved into Texas Christian University).
The town got a post office in 1893 and the population soon reached
400 - reaching a peak in 1904 just short of 500.
Thorp
Springs Christian College replaced Add-Ran
College in 1910.
Its bright future was dimmed in the early 1890s when it was bypassed
by not one, but two railroads. Still, the town maintained a 400-plus
population through the 1960s. The last three businesses closed and
in 1990 it reported 184 residents - the same figure they've been using
ever since. |
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T.S.C.C.
Tennis Club, 1917-1918
Click on image to enlarge
"Sadly, none of the people are marked. This is from my grandmother's
(Lura Underwood-McCarty of Paluxy, TX) scrapbook, dated 1917 to 1918
when she attended Thorp Springs Christian College. She is not in the
photo, and must be the photographer. - Linda Susan McCarty, Chicago,
January 31, 2020 |
From
Thorp
Springs Christian College 1914-1915 yearbook:
"Thorp Spring is in Hood County, three miles north of the county
seat, Granbury,
and about forty miles southwest of Fort
Worth. Granbury
is on the Frisco road, which has double daily passenger train service
to and from Fort Worth
and Brownwood.
... The village of Thorp Springs is made up of school people. Practically
everybody here is here for the school, and there is the most complete
cooperation between all the citizens and the school authorities. There
are no questionable outside attractions. All entertainment are school
affairs. In fact, life in our village is school life..." more |
1920s Hood
County map showing Thorp Spring
NW of Granbury
the county seat
From Texas state map #10749
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
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