The Gordon Coal Mines: Part 1 - Jones, Cowen & Knowlton

 

The Gordon Coal Mines, later known as Coalville, was a very significant site during the early years of the Texas & Pacific Railway’s western development from Fort Worth. The firm responsible for the initial discovery and development of the Gordon Mines was a group T&P had contracted to build the bridges and buildings for the line for all points 100 miles west of Fort Worth. Over the years there has been confusion as to the name of this firm. Weldon Hardman’s book on Thurber “Fire in a Hole”, which was one of the earliest historical accounts of coal mining in the area, noted that the firm that opened the Gordon Mines was James, Cowan and Nolton. This was almost correct, and while Mr. Hardman admittedly wrote that his book was not “scholarly” and depended more on memory and word of mouth, this incorrect bit of information was propagated into multiple subsequent books on Thurber and area mining history, further blurring the rich history of the almost completely forgotten mining site.

The true name of the firm responsible for opening the Gordon Coal Mines was the Jones, Cowen and Knowlton Company. While the name variations are slight it is important to correct the record when attempting to unravel the history of the mines.

On January 16, 1880, the partnership of Jones, Cowen and Knowlton won the lucrative T&P building and bridge 100 mile construction contract. Each of the three partners were independently successful lumber men. John Roberts Jones was born in Gwernymynydd, Wales in 1841 and emigrated to the US as a child. He settled in Shreveport, LA where he worked his way into a very prominent career as a lumber man and civic leader. He owned multiple sawmills and started the Victoria Sash and Door Company in Shreveport. Col Edward Palmer Cowen was born in New Bedford, MA in 1842 and had multiple lumber locations (including Fort Worth) under the name E.P. Cowen Lumber Co. Samuel G. Knowlton, possibly the least prominent of the three, was born in 1840 in Gloucester, MA and migrated to Plaquemine, LA during the mid to late 1800s where he owned the Plaquemine Lumber and Shingle Co among other lumber related interests.

Newspapers at the time reported that it was Samuel Knowlton that discovered the coal outcroppings on Clayton Mountain, northeast of the future townsite of Gordon, while scoping out the area where the railroad would be passing through. This was the first significant discovery of coal in north Texas and Knowlton, along with his partners recognized this could be a very lucrative opportunity. Coal, of course, was the fuel of choice for the railroad at the time.

The three men began laying claim to the land surrounding the coal discovery. Some of the land was originally given to the railroad by the government for potential use, but as the actual route was established, much of the extra land was sold. While they worked as a partnership, they individually purchased land. Looking at the original landowner’s map of this area, you will see the area littered with the names of these three men. They eventually collectively owned appx 7000 acres in the area.

Who better than to start a mining operation and town in the 1880s than a group of lumber giants?

By September of 1880, in good timing with the progress of railroad construction though the area, Jones, Cowen and Knowlton had sunk their first mine. Initially the loads of coal were taken by wagon to the Gordon T&P depot for pick up. Due to the immediate demand for coal, the town of Gordon was reported to have literally sprung up over the course of a weekend.

Within a few weeks of operation, the Gordon Coal Mines were turning out 25 tons per day and were supplying all of the coal used by Texas & Pacific engines, eliminating the high cost of shipping coal from other states. This would soon gain the interest of railroad magnate (head of Texas & Pacific among other lines), Jay Gould.

More on the Gordon Coal Mines to come!