{"nrhp_refnum":"79002936","name":"Thurber Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"S of Thurber","address_restricted":false,"city":"Thurber","county":"Erath County","state":"TX","lat":32.50022594550006,"lon":-98.43556536913137,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-08-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Community Planning and Development","Commerce","Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Conservation","Engineering","Transportation","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of about 1,000 acres near Interstate 20 in northwestern Erath County, Texas, covering the remains of the company-owned coal mining and brick-making town of Thurber, founded in the late 1880s. It includes surviving buildings, a cemetery, two lakes, brick plant ruins, mine sites and house foundations.","why_significant":"The nomination argues Thurber was a unique company-owned town whose buildings were erected before a population existed, and that it was reportedly the first all-union city in the nation. It was also among the first towns with full electrification and water and sewer systems, and drew immigrants of at least 18 nationalities. Its foundations and mine sites hold archaeological value for studying mining, brick manufacture and the lives of its workers.","narrative":"Thurber, in northwestern Erath County, Texas, was a coal mining and brick-making town owned entirely by the Texas Pacific Coal Company. Founded in the late 1880s, it grew to about 10,000 residents by 1921, then shrank to a handful after railroads switched to oil and highways to asphalt. The district protects what remains: a 150-foot brick smokestack dated 1906, the old drug store, dry goods building, fire house, water filtration plant, three early houses including that of manager W.K. Gordon, a cemetery with over 3,000 graves, two man-made lakes, brick plant ruins and mine sites. Foundations of hundreds of company houses reveal the town's planned layout. Thurber is noted as the first all-union town in the nation, an early adopter of electricity and sewer systems, and a community drawing workers of at least 18 nationalities. Its remains are valued especially for archaeological and historical study.","period_of_significance":"1886 to 1936","architect_builder":"Texas Pacific Coal Mining Company","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Mixed: a few buildings survive and are in use, including a restaurant, ranch office and water plant and guest house, while most of the town exists only as foundations and ruins.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.054135-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/4/9719/40971904/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/79002936.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002936/7e5623e7c3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002936/7e5623e7c3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thurber_Historic_District.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thurber_Historic_District.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971904","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurber,_Texas","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7799256"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/erath-county/thurber-historic-district-79002936/"}