Site of Snake Saloon
Thurber, Palo Pinto County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Saloons were prominent in the life and history of Thurber and were often settings for union organizational efforts. The first Snake Saloon, located between the drugstore and the livery stable in the center of town, was famous for its massive horseshoe-shaped mahogany bar. After liquor sales were outlawed in Erath County in 1904, the Snake Saloon relocated just inside Palo Pinto County, 150 yards west of this site. The 40' x 120' building featured a bar as long as two train cars. The saloon closed in 1920 after passage of the federal prohibition law. (1995)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the coal-company town of Thurber, saloons were more than watering holes — they were meeting grounds for union organizers in one of the most heavily unionized towns in Texas. The famous Snake Saloon, known for its horseshoe-shaped mahogany bar, moved just across the county line into Palo Pinto County after Erath County outlawed liquor in 1904, reopening in a cavernous hall with a bar as long as two train cars. National Prohibition finally shut it down in 1920.
Why it matters
The Snake Saloon marks how social spaces in a company mining town doubled as the seedbed of the organized-labor movement in industrial Texas.
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Themes & tags
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