Goldthwaite Eagle

By 1898 Goldthwaite had about 1,200 people, three churches, a bank, several hotels and boardinghouses, two cotton gins, two gristmills, a public and a private school, many stores and two weekly papers, the Eagle and the Mountaineer. Mills County lay partly in the Grand Prairie and partly in the western Cross Timbers, with the Colorado River as its western line and San Saba Peak as a landmark. In 1988 the town's economy rested on wool, mohair, cattle, sheep, pecans, grain and the making of farm equipment, and it had 1,802 people in 2000.

What the plaque says

Goldthwaite Eagle 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. (1977)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Mills County — steps away
• The Old Town Well, Goldthwaite — steps away
• Confederate Veterans Memorial of Mills County — steps away
• Mills County State Bank — steps away