DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker for Whitehead Cemetery in Erath County tells it like this — and it's a story worth telling slow. By the early twentieth century, a Black community had put down roots at the Thurber townsite. They worked, they lived, they built something real there.
And then, in 1933, the Texas and Pacific Coal and Oil Company relocated its offices to Fort Worth. A lot of folks followed the company out. But several families — Black residents among them — stayed right where they were, in those company-owned homes, holding on to the place they called theirs.
Now here's where Albert Whitehead enters the story. He and his fellow Black residents understood something practical and something profound at the same time: their community needed a place to bury its dead that was close, that was their own. So they established a cemetery plot south of the former town square — a place for friends and relatives, a convenient alternative to the Thurber Cemetery.
They called it the Whitehead Cemetery. The first documented burial there is that of Sarah Grant, in 1943. One name, one year, anchoring the whole place in time.
Today, Tarleton State University maintains the cemetery as part of the W.K. Gordon Center for Industrial History of Texas grounds. Which means this quiet plot south of a town square that's no longer there is still being kept.
Still being tended. A community passed through Thurber. Most of the town moved on.
But Albert Whitehead and the people who stayed made sure something of them would remain — and it has.
What the marker says
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