Thurber, Texas is half-way between Fort Worth and Abilene on Interstate-20, but you’ll miss it if you’re not looking for it. Although it was the biggest city between Fort Worth and El Paso with a population of nearly 10,000 one hundred years ago, it is a ghost town today. Between 1886 and 1920, the Texas … Continue reading
The bright side to all the craziness in the world is that we have more free time than normal. For years, my son and I have gone camping every fall, and usually also every spring, but we have been so busy that it has been over a year since we’ve gone. Until this past weekend. … Continue reading
Josiah “Doc” Scurlock was a colorful character who rode with Billy the Kid and found no shortage of trouble in his younger years, including having his front teeth shot out over a card game dispute. The other man wasn’t as lucky. Scurlock was born in Alabama in 1849 but moved west as a young man. … Continue reading
By John Bird Eastland, Texas is best known for its most famous citizen of the past—a horned toad named Old Rip. Eastland County was amid a boom in the last years of the 19th century, and a larger courthouse was built in 1897. During the dedication, dignitaries placed various things in the courthouse cornerstone as … Continue reading
Twenty seven years ago: It didn’t take long for Travis to become known as a good bull rider. He was getting on bulls wherever and whenever he could, and he was riding well. Soon he became over-confident. Before he was ready, he entered the Friday night senior jackpot. Travis bucked off and hung up to … Continue reading
In 1918, Eastland County, Texas was in an oil boom. From 1910 to 1920, the population of the county more than doubled, and what had been a farming area became the tenth most populated county in Texas for a time. The growth meant new businesses, including the three-story building one block from the courthouse that … Continue reading
The Santa Claus Bank Robbery happened in Cisco, Texas on December 23, 1927 and resulted in the last public mob lynching in the state. The details are well-known in Cisco and Eastland, and the story is notorious in Texas, as it was one of the last true examples of the wild west. Readers can find … Continue reading
