Goldthwaite Eagle
Goldthwaite, Mills County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1885 William H. Thompson (1842-1896) started a weekly newspaper, "The Mountaineer", which closed but was reestablished in 1894. He sold it in 1896 to R. M. Thompson, his nephew, who renamed it "The Goldthwaite Eagle". At that time eagles still lived in the hills of Mills County. The paper was bought in 1920 by Dr. E. M. Wilson. It changed hands between the Wilson and Thompson Families until 1950, when Charlie T. Wilson sold it to H. R. Ekins. A merger with "The Mullin Enterprise" made it the county's only newspaper. In 1971 Frank Bridges purchased "The Eagle" from Victor E. Koleber.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Central Texas newspaperman William H. Thompson launched a weekly called The Mountaineer in 1885; after it lapsed and revived, his nephew renamed it The Goldthwaite Eagle in 1896—when eagles still nested in the hills of Mills County. The paper passed among the Wilson and Thompson families for decades and, through a merger with a rival, became the county's sole newspaper. It has served the community continuously into the modern era.
Why it matters
Local papers like the Eagle were the connective tissue of rural county life, recording and binding together small-town America.
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Related people
- · William H. Thompson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Mills County State Bank
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Goldthwaite boomed after the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railway reached Mills County, and by 1888 the growing county seat needed a bank—so D.H. Trent opened a private one with a few thousand dollars in deposits. Through decades of reorganization it became the state-chartered Trent State Bank in 1908 and, in 1952, the Mills County State Bank. It marked 120 years in business in 2008, having weathered hard times and expanded into neighboring towns.
Dam and Well
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