[citation needed] Coal-mining operations began in Thurber in 1886 and reached a peak around 1920, when the town had a population of approximately 8,000 to 10,000, from more than a dozen nationalities, though Italians, Poles, and Mexicans predominated.

At the peak, Thurber was one of Texas's largest bituminous coal-mining towns.

[5] By 1920, conversion of locomotives from coal to oil reduced demand and lowered prices and miners left the area through the 1920s.

There are several landmarks in Thurber, such as The Thurber Cemetery (which has over a thousand graves), the restored St. Barbara's Catholic Church, a restored and furnished coal miner's house, New York Hill, and much more.

[7] Also at Thurber is the W. K. Gordon Center for Industrial History of Texas, a museum containing information on historical Thurber (operated by nearby Tarleton State University),[6] as well as the historic Smokestack Restaurant, and the New York Hill Restaurant built on what was once the site of the town's Episcopal Church at the top of New York Hill.