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DALLAS/FT. WORTH  to  PALO PINTO COUNTY
via Weatherford and Mineral Wells

continued
Part 5

Weatherford ‹ Part 1
Mineral Wells ‹ Part 2
Palo Pinto ‹ Part 3
Palo Pinto County ‹ Part 4

Ghost Town
Thurber
1886-1934

Thurber cemetery
Leaving Palo Pinto on Hwy 4 South you'll see why this is called the North Texas Hill Country. You can turn on FM3137 to see Lake Palo Pinto and then take 919 to Gordon.  Continue south on 919 and get on I-20 West.  Or a simpler route is Hwy 4 to I-20 and then west where you will see on the right a large brick smokestack that serves as a tombstone for the ghost town of Thurber.

(Reader's comment: FM 4 from I-20 (just west of New Salem) to the village of Palo Pinto was the first scenic roadway designated as such by the State. -- Arnold Ziffel )

There is no tumbleweed here, no saloon sign swinging from a rusty squeaky chain.  But the story of this town is more interesting than any abandoned western town, even more so because it was once a thriving city. One of the first cities in the world to be electrified, Thurber was also surrounded by a barbed wire fence patrolled by mounted guards to prevent citizens from spending their money elsewhere and to keep labor organizers out.

Thurber Texas brick yard
The Thurber Brick yards.
Old post card TE Archives


Thurber Texas smokestack
The smokestack in Thurber
TE photo, 2001

THURBER, TEXAS
Texas' premier ghost town

Only Indianola's story comes close to equaling the Thurber saga. Once the largest city between Fort Worth and El Paso, Thurber became a ghost due to corporate decisions and not the forces of nature, as was the case with Indianola... Thurber


© John Troesser
April 1998

Parker and Palo Pinto County map
How to Get There, and map

The Trip:

Weatherford ‹ Part 1

Mineral Wells ‹ Part 2
Palo Pinto ‹ Part 3
Palo Pinto County ‹ Part 4

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