Whitehead Cemetery
Mingus, Erath County, Texas
Marker Inscription
WHITEHEAD CEMETERY THE WHITEHEAD CEMETERY IS A SIGNIFICANT REMINDER OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY THAT OCCUPIED THE THURBER TOWNSITE IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY. WHEN THE TEXAS AND PACIFIC COAL AND OIL COMPANY RELOCATED ITS OFFICES TO FORT WORTH IN 1933, SEVERAL FAMILIES REMAINED IN THEIR COMPANY-OWNED HOMES. ALBERT WHITEHEAD AND FELLOW BLACK RESIDENTS ESTABLISHED THIS PLOT SOUTH OF THE FORMER TOWN SQUARE FOR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES AS A CONVENIENT ALTERNATIVE TO THE THURBER CEMETERY. THE FIRST DOCUMENTED BURIAL IS THAT OF SARAH GRANT IN 1943. TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY MAINTAINS THE CEMETERY AS PART OF THE W.K. GORDON CENTER FOR INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF TEXAS GROUNDS. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY – 2010
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Whitehead Cemetery recalls the African American community that lived in the company town of Thurber in the early 20th century. When the Texas and Pacific Coal and Oil Company moved its offices to Fort Worth in 1933, several Black families stayed on in their company-owned homes. Albert Whitehead and fellow residents established this burial plot south of the old town square as a convenient alternative to the Thurber Cemetery, with the first documented burial—Sarah Grant—in 1943. Tarleton State University now maintains it as part of its industrial-history center grounds.
Why it matters
The cemetery preserves the story of Black workers in one of Texas's great coal and oil company towns, a community easily erased when the industry that built the town moved on.
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Related people
- · Albert Whitehead
- · Sarah Grant
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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