Site of Snake Saloon
N 32° 30.814 W 098° 25.237
14S E 554418 N 3597510
Texas Historical Marker commemorating Thurber's Snake Saloon, which featured an incredible horseshoe-shaped bar. Located along TX 108, just north of the Palo Pinto-Erath County Line (as the marker elaborates).
Waymark Code: WMF7C7
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/05/2012
Views: 10
There is at least one extant photo of the bar, not difficult to find on the web -- one current location is at (
visit link) -- and it can also be seen in the Thurber entry in T. Lindsay Baker's "Ghost Towns of Texas." Also worth a look is Mary Jane Gentry's Master's thesis, published as "The Birth of a Texas Ghost Town: Thurber, 1886-1933." Gentry spent much of her childhood in Thurber, and her thesis is basically THE book on the town.
Marker Number: 4888
Marker Text:
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)
|
Visit Instructions:
Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.