Thurber Texas Will Leave You In Awe!

hey everyone today I'm in thurber Texas and this is pretty interesting it's a ghost town with a lot of history yet there's two really good places to eat here let me show you around a little bit here of some what's left so this right over here is I 20 and if you are traveling down that you can't miss this gigantic smokestack here the very top of it it says 1908 and then there's a little bit of history down there the evolution of an oil company there's also a historic sign right here so this says thurber Texas the most important mine site in Texas for 30 years coal here probably known to Indians was discovered in 1886 by wwg onsen who with his brother harvey sold out to texas and pacific coal company in 1888 T&P coal company provided fuel for the Texas and Pacific Railroad but was independently owned the town was named for HK Thurber friend of TMP coal company founders most dynamic firm member was Robert D hunter 1833 to 1902 developer of seven of fifteen mines that were here next to president was Al Marston Hunter's son-in-law who left mining largely to William K Gordon 1862 to 1949 and Inge an engineer who brought daily output to 3,000 tons then in 1917 Gordon backed by the management of Coal Company was primarily responsible for discovery of Ranger oil field which is 20 miles west adoption of oil burning railroad locomotives cut demand for coal the last mine here closed in 1921 and the 10,000 or more inhabitants of Thurber began to move away the coal firm changed its name to Texas Pacific and coal company and was sold in 1963 Joseph II Seagram & Sons for 277 million dollars renamed Texas Pacific Oil Company it is now one of the largest independent domestic energy suppliers much cold by estimate one hundred and twenty seven thousand tons remains underground and this sign was placed here in 1969 now there used to be more smokestacks here I've heard as many as like three could be more there's not a whole lot here now chain-link fence and cactus probably has its fair share of snakes out here too which hopefully we won't run into those this is a large large smokestack and it's in really good shape they've got some wire over that I guess to keep maybe the pigeons out but kind of a similar deal this is the site of the first commercial cold produced in Texas by the Texas and Pacific coal company mined in 1888 this company was the forerunner of the Texas Pacific coal oil company now one of the nation's substantial independent producers of oil and gas the transition from coal mining to petroleum production was accelerated by the company's discovery in nineteen seventeen of oil and gas in the great ranger field sixteen miles to the west it was a natural evolution of American Enterprise dedicated to developing natural resources to supply the nation's growing need for abundant energy beneath this ground lies part of the hundred and twenty seven thousand tons of coal still owned by the Texas Pacific which may be mined in the future this is Texas only known deposit of bitna mess coal and occurs from the surface to a depth of four hundred and fifty feet this was erected not March of 1960 without paying up you can get the sheer magnitude of the size of this thing then there's some sort of pulley up there side shoot off of that it's amazing how good a shape it's in keep an eye out for snakes definitely has a lot of those little burrs right there to get stuck in the shoes so I'm sure I'm gonna have some of those we'll try to avoid them but it's so thick I don't think there's any way I can look right here you can actually see little footprints Oh some kind of critter going up in there but I don't know it looks like you can see little dust ashes or something from this old smokestack maybe from the coal who knows the ground is kind of black through here as well you can see where it's kind of poured out right there back over here there's some kind of old structure there as well we're on the back side of it you can see a door that's kind of caved in and the whole roof of that thing is just gone zoom in here a little bit for you guys you guys may see or hear gunshots in the background this is a the last day in August so dove season is fast approaching that is the smokehouse restaurant over there it's supposed to be really good right on the back of this is a power switch pretty interesting cables go underneath the ground don't know what that power is really there is a light it's over that way to light up the smokestack I don't know how often they use it but maybe it goes to that it's a brick missing in the corner but otherwise all the bricks are here piece of wood that's there I don't know if there was some sort of sign see a rod that's sticking out there and if you look way up towards the top there is a ladder look at that ladder hanging over the side right there pretty interesting [Music] so I'm not exactly sure what this sidewalk originally went to sidewalk over there went to that smokestack but I guess there was a building here there's a couple little side stretches of sidewalk where it goes back into something that used to be here and then this little stretch where there's not really any grass growing has a rock in it there's another little patch right here that doesn't have anything growing on it and then the very end of this there's another one of those patches where it goes into something and it's just cement this looks like it keeps going up into that brush somewhere it's too thick to crawl back up in there and but it leads somewhere maybe that building next door went down this dirt road and passed over these little bricks that are here one of the things that this town was famous for is actually bricks thurber bricks you can see these all over there in Texas and can see them up into Oklahoma way out west into Arizona they're pretty famous so I was looking to see if I could find any that had the markings on it to show you guys but I'm not seeing any so far doesn't mean that we won't you can see this light right here that can light up that smokestack so there's this sort of random power pole here I don't think any power is going to it now it has some plugins there there would have been things all through here I see another little pole that's over that way let's walk through here see if we can see any foundations the things did not see any snakes [Music] here we have some bricks part of a foundation is something here goes on across over there base of something keeps running along through here assume it's the same thing [Applause] as long as there's no snakes in this I'm happy a lot of grasshoppers so far well this is obviously the foundation of something you can see the bricks here not much is growing it's hard to say if you'll sink in this walking on it but let's try reason why I say that is look at this right there where it's falling in so it obviously had some sort of basement to it it's hard to say I will say it's pretty squishy walking on that you can see where it's fallen in right there as well but something was here at one time see another little power pole there you know here you go you can see the bricks here where it says Thurber right there another really good one says Thurber and then you see that triangle right there a lot of little bricks that's what you'll see all over the place there's a highway paved with these bricks look at this caving in right there trying to just walk along the edge especially after I walked through the air and it was pretty mushy here's part of another little cement foundation thing looks to me like it could be an entrance into a store not sure what was here grass isn't really growing here either not too much and see where there was some sort of pipe or something there and this is cement that's underneath see here we have some bricks right there in the cement foundation and then we have this tile which is pretty interesting from what I understand this tile belong to inside of a barber shop saw a lizard scoot by couldn't catch him on camera though a lot of little pieces of tile here so we're standing inside of what probably would have been the barber shop but don't take that for a fact it could have been something else regardless we are standing inside as some sort of old structure and it's pretty neat that these little pieces of tile have remained here all this many years later has an interesting design around the edges here good craftsmanship to last out here all these years all this heat you can see a lot of different things this is a sort of a brick sidewalk that's out the front of this little pole structure is really rust in there this brick sidewalk has what appears to have to be a little planter area a lot of bricks you can see it going around this tree right there some loose bricks right there and then a bunch of loose bricks right here someone has constructed that into a fire pit is what that looks like to me I don't know if that was a some sort of chimney that was there or not a lot of bricks that have caved in right here part of the structure this certainly had some sort of dip down in it maybe a little cellar basement something like that see some of the brick structure through here and these definitely have writing on them a lot of them here a lot of Thurber Briggs I don't know if people been kind of prying those out or what but be nice if they just kind of leave them be those are steps have been to whatever that structure was then you can see a parking lot right here and kind of a little rock structure around the trees going around the border of the parking lot even goes around that tree right over there often the distance across the interstate is a museum and it's a newer museum tells you a little bit of the history about some of the mining here and then there's kind of an old sign right there smokestack Friday catfish special 9.95 a smaller fish plate 795 that smokestack restaurant these are some of the last remaining buildings of this sort of main area is obviously some sort of structure right there even around this tree you can see remnants of bricks right around that and this had some sort of sidewalk around it you can see the foundation here it's interesting to see what is remaining this could have been some sort of garage type structure looking at this looks like you could pull all the way through though so maybe a service station not sure something where you could enter both sides I won't go too close to that restaurant they've got some music playing and I don't want to get dinged but this kind of gives you an idea what these buildings sort of looked like the holes glass on them and you can see the sidewalks on the side of the building some sort of garage there they get those windows boarded up and painted but they really look like they're in good shape popular little stop because of this restaurant there's also a restaurant on the other side of the highway up on a hill you can see the sidewalk right there yeah it says for rent I guess not for sale but for rent you're interested in starting a business here a lot of traffic you can see this sidewalk was leading into some structure that was there there's nothing left but the back wall roofs gone everything's gone might be something inside that fence but that's it's all part of that smokehouse restaurant there this structure is pretty interesting it's got several layers of roof tiles up there shingles and they are wearing away fast see the old windows you can tell it's the old glass because it's kind of got that wavy look this says the Thurber fire station [Applause] pretty neat thought we would go over here and look at that other building that was next to this I don't know if there's anything in there or not well they got some old stuff in the old jeep different things in there check out that old fire hydrant that's right there next to this fire station certainly old style not sure what this was you can see the gate entrance here with that that has a roof that has completely collapsed in on itself and then you can see around this window here that was boarded up at one time it's cracking right above it so won't be too much longer and it's gonna fall on that corner still interesting that it's standing though turn the film and look for snakes too so far only grasshoppers and I hope it stays that way this middle window still has panes in it and then this one has three of the four panes there's one that's kind of busted the others fall falling all the way through but it is interesting I don't know if it is part of that smokestack right there or not does make sense to have a fire hydrant right there like that right in front of this structure I notice the grass isn't growing well here and there's obviously gravel right here but you can see more bricks here and what looks to be maybe sort of a sidewalk got some bricks in it it's hard to say what all was here is a couple old houses up through here not sure on their age they're in good shape and well-maintained so look at this pipe sticking up out of the ground got a wonder if it's some sort of natural gas line I guess goes back behind that building that old fire station so that sign is kind of falling down a little bit but it says welcome visit the original Church miners something railcar and bandstand Thurber Historic Park and then the New York Hill restaurant is to the right up this hill [Applause] so that is the new museum right there and they do have some artifacts in there and you're probably hearing some gunshots what that is is they have a clay pigeon shooting area over there so people are getting ready for dove season which sounds like fun but this is the bandstand and from what I understand it's not the original I guess it used to sit about ten feet up in the air and I don't know if they've chopped that down and lowered it or if it's a deal of they recreated it but they didn't want it so dangerous I do know that this is a got a little bench seating area right here and then just a little arena for some reason it even has some lights right there here's some pellets down there and then there's this other arena you know what those are what that's for if anyone knows definitely leave a comment below almost looks like Big O horseshoe arenas or something and this looks like some sort of flower bed type thing there's no sign designating what it is I don't think there's anything on the other side of this this is just a tile so I don't know what that is the piece of the sign that fell down is right there just a triangle that says BT and T so here's the bandstand they've used all these bricks that are from here around it they've got some Christmas lights on it you can see a few planks are just starting to come up there a couple metal chairs and see the original ceiling here and where some of it has came off I think this is maybe original they just lowered it and then you got to put that there because there's a lot of pigeons around so I don't know a lot of spiderwebs I'm walking through don't see anything on that it might have designated at one point there's where you enter that see if this sign says anything ah that one over there says it these are John and Johnny Goodwin bocce ball courts that's kind of different I guess they actually have some tournaments here but here is the rail car that they used in man as it in sad shape this thing is really falling apart they've got some of the old track there and you can see it is severely deteriorating right there it's just so old look at the steps up in this thing I don't know if that's safe but let's try it it's in a hold my weight I guess it will hold everyone else's now I can feel it bouncing so there are a lot of wasps nests interesting to see the floor like that there's a pillow in here a little bit of graffiti a lot of wasps buzzing all around me that is one huge garden spider right there that's in the window of that this looks like they may have had heat in this thing like maybe an old wood-burning stove sat right there you can see some pieces of that inside oh that's part of the old door is what that is that yellow thing is part of old door pretty neat you can go inside here even though it is a little rickety it's this staircase it's bad you can see the yellow door is intact on this side yeah I wouldn't want to stand too long on this staircase and don't use that railing that railing is shot I wouldn't lean on that or depend on that pretty neat to see this whole railcar that they use to transport the miners back and forth I'm a little bit better shape on this side and not by much and then someone lost their sock pretty sure it's cotton a minor maybe it's one of the bocce ball players let's go over and look at these so right up there is where the restaurant is and it's on the hill and of course it says New York Hill right here so this is the old house that's still standing and there is a historic sign that's on the door we'll go up and read it see if we can peek in any of the windows so far I'm not seeing anything they're covered but that one right there looks like we could kind of a cement walkway here and see more of those bricks holding up the porch part of the foundation there so this is the Thurber's miner house this house costs 200 to 300 dollars to build and rent it for $6 a month it is a box type construction with rooms standard 14 by 14 feet houses were usually pane and red green or yellow typical of this house was a bracket flue chimney where the brickwork set on seven-foot-tall to buy 10 wood planks many homes had several boarders who slept in one room and paid $18 a month for bed board and laundry when Thurber was torn down this house was sold for $50 and the buyer had to move it many of these old houses are still seen throughout the countryside and use as barns or storage so pretty neat that this is still standing I can feel some of these planks giving out and they've got plywood over part of it let's see here not really seeing much in there kind of just a storage area looks like yeah this this porch is really starting to give and you can see where the planks are coming up on here and the railing once again don't depend on that railing if you decide to come out here in fact you can see how shaky that thing is with just a pinky shaking it so I don't know if there was some sort of sign here this is interesting to see this kind of with a border around this line I guess just maybe to keep people from mowing over it the lights are busted but this is the old Saint Barbara's church Saint Barbara's Catholic Church most a Thurber's immigrant population representing 18 nationalities were Catholic missionary priests ministered to the town until 1892 when the coal company erected a Catholic Church at the bottom of the graveyard Hill originally named Saint service it was renamed st. barbara's to honor the patroness saint of the miners a church school hunter Academy operated from 1894 to 1923 the church building was moved two miles north to mingus when Thurber was dismantled in the 1930s and was returned to Thurber in 1993 by the Thurber preservationist and this sign was erected in 1995 pretty cool windows right there not sure if this was the original location of where the church was or not pretty sure this thing is not going to be unlocked but let's try nope pretty neat to see it standing here though you can see the staircase going up here to probably a second balcony where that stained glass window is hold propane tank there well it's hard for me to see but I see a file cabinet I think some church pews over there you guys don't have to let me know if you see anything else says oh yeah there's definitely church pews right there I can almost see in here I see it organ over there would have been a doorway into the church at least the backside of it and church could use some paint but it's neat that it's standing there's some boards that have been falling off I see looks like some of the roof as well even looks like another door would have been right there there's a lot of wasps around here big old nest all around this thing little ones big ones there's a side door here I don't know if that originally would have been there look at this wasp nest up there a bunch of them oh my lord all down through there Church actually has air conditioning so yes they still use it got a plug in right there we're getting a view of the other side it looks like there's an organ on both sides I mean tons and tons of wasp nests with eggs in them all kinds of stuff little larvae [Applause] so this historical sign is notating the site of hotel knots in the Thurber mining office it states that the Texas and Pacific Coal Company built the first-class hotel knocks about 1895 in addition to serving out a town guest it was a social Center in Thurber and home to many of the town's white-collar workers these workers included store clerks staff of the adjacent mining office where general manager William Knox Gordon maintained his headquarters the hotel Knox burned in 1907 and was replaced by the Plummer hotel although the town dismantled in the 1930s ruins of the mining office were still visible decades later you can see a lot of different things back in there there's a barbed wire fence here but there's a little bit of brick Foundation type stuff and cement some pipes all sorts of things back up in through there another interesting thing kind of standing here so that's gonna do it for today's adventure I appreciate you watching and if you want to see more of this old town the next episode is gonna have a tour through the cemetery which is pretty unique there's a lot of interesting things to see in there thanks for watching and we'll see you guys next time

Channel: Rhetty for History

Views: 46,130

Rating: 4.8726897 out of 5

Keywords: Ghost Town, Thurber, Texas, I-20, Small Town, back roads, coal mining, Texas and Pacific Railway, bituminous coal, Texas Pacific Coal Company, history, historic, mining, remnants, abandoned, Thurber Bricks, Thurber Historic District, National Register of Historic Places, Old Church, Mining Train Car, Smokestack, Miner's House, Mining town, mining district, mining history, miner, Thurber Texas, exploring abandoned places, adventure time, Rhetty for history, Thurber Texas Ghost Town

Id: QUv-XX0YbAE

Length: 34min 45sec (2085 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 15 2020