W.K. Gordon Museum and the history of Thurber, Texas

BY PAYTON MARKS / Multimedia Journalist   

Tarleton State University and Erath County are home to many interesting places and events but what many people don’t know is that Erath County has its own history museum. 

The W.K. Gordon Center for Industrial History of Texas is located in what is now known as present-day Mingus, Texas in Erath County. Lea Hart, Communications and Marketing Coordinator of the museum gave some insight into the museum and their relationship with Tareton.

“The W.K. Gordon Museum and Industrial Center of Texas tells the story of Thurber, Texas which was a company-owned coal mining and brick-making town from 1860 to roughly 1937,” Hart said.

The museum gives the history of the former town of Thurber and showcases what life was like back then. Even the buildings surrounding the W.K Gordon Center have historical significance dating back to the days of Thurber. 

Hart pointed out some of these buildings to me through paintings found around the gift shop of the museum.

“The smokestack that’s here on the left is the one that’s actually standing across the highway,” Hart said.

The museum is set up with old artifacts donated to the center by the residents of Thurber themselves. The center even still has the old opera house built into the center where Hart said they still host events.

“We sometimes will have movie nights, but the opera house is still the same size as it was when it was built so if people want to attend movie nights the best decision is to make a reservation because even with folding chairs, we can only fit about 30 people into the old opera house,” Hart said.

People who want to attend the museum and learn more about the history of Thurber can do self-guided tours through the museum or often for events such as field trips the museum has someone to guide people through.

The center also has a gift shop where customers can buy maps with the markings of what Thurber formerly looked like, books that would be sold in the town, t-shirts with the names of towns that have Thurber brick in them and educational toys for children.

The center also has direct ties to Tarleton.

“We are owned and operated by Tarleton because of that Tarleton faculty, students and staff have free admission with their ID,” Hart said. “We were started with an endowment from Mrs. W.K Gordon Jr. She built this center in memory of her husband and left an endowment with Tarleton to keep it running.”

Hart also explained that the museum does different events throughout the year.

For people at Tarleton or in the surrounding areas who are curious about the history of Erath County, they can learn more Monday through Saturday at The W.K. Gordon Museum.