I
n the far western extremes of
Parker County, hard against the
Palo Pinto County line, in the rugged
country where Lake Mineral Wells
now sprawls, coal mining was
once a going concern. Rock Creek,
named after the watercourse winding
through the area, has one of those
“rise and fall” stories so common
in Texas, or any other state, for that
matter.
In the 1870s, Anglo settlers began
to arrive in what would become the
town of Rock Creek, roughly just
south of where The National Vietnam
War Museum stands today on
Highway 180.
In those early years, the settlement
served as a central point for a loose
community of farmers and ranchers
trying to scratch out a place for them-
selves in what had been, and to some
extent still was, dangerous environs,
a place to attend church and gather
for other social interaction.
Local history is rife with tales of
Indian depredations up and down
Rock Creek, the last recorded attack
in the county occurring in 1874.
With the subjugation of belligerent
Native Americans wanting to drop
down from reservations north of the
Red River to raid North Texas farms
and ranches came unprecedented
growth in the white population; thou-
sands spilled into the county to put
spa activities. They adopted the name
Weatherford Coal Company and on
Oct. 1, 1891, delivered by rail their
first passengers from Weatherford
to Mineral Wells, a clanky ride of
25 miles. Shortly after, the Texas
Coal and Fuel Company acquired
the land — the deed showing 2,213
acres — except for right-of-way used
by the Weatherford, Mineral Wells
& Northwestern Railway. From three
140-foot-deep mines the company
produced some 1,500 tons of bitu-
minous coal a day. It was near these
mines that Rock Creek sprang up,
offering a general store, schoolhouse,
churches, billiard halls, post office,
butcher shop and even a hotel.
The early years of the 20th centu-
ry were not good ones for TC&FC,
which was losing money by the
coal-car full — over $5,000 in 1906
and in excess of $14,500 in 1907.
April 15, 1908, stockholders met in
Thurber and authorized the president
to close the Rock Creek mines.
With the town’s economy basi-
cally gone, over the next few years,
businesses closed and people
packed up and struck out for greener
pastures. Rock Creek’s buildings
were either moved or demolished for
materials. In the periodical Scientific
American, Vol. 102, published June
4, 1910, there appeared an odd
photograph of a steam locomotive
moving miner cottages from the
town. The accompanying text read:
“MOVING A TOWN BY RAIL —
Pictured herewith is a trainload of
houses on the Weatherford, Mineral
Wells & Northwestern Railway in
Texas. There are five flat cars loaded
with miners’ cottages of two rooms
each, each room being 12 by 14 by
9 feet. Extreme height above the car
is 15 feet 4 inches. In addition, there
are two cars containing the lean-to
kitchens, and two cars that carry
other wreckage of the coal-mining
town of Rock Creek, Texas, whose
mines were abandoned. The train
was moved successfully at the rate
of 15 miles per hour, and around a
number of six-degree curves having
the outer rail elevated four inches.”
No mention of a destination, but
Thurber to the southwest might be a
good guess.
During World War II, Camp
Rock Creek Road Church
down — with a little luck — roots.
When the railroad arrived in
the 1880s, the community officially
adopted the name “Rock Creek,” and
in 1891, with 75 residents, was grant-
ed a post office. By the mid — ‘90s
coal mining was the thing and the
population had risen to 400. Toward
the 1900 mark, Rock Creek boasted
some 1,500 souls.
One of the early diggers for “black
diamonds” in the area was William
“Whipple” Johnson who had already
developed mining concerns in Palo
Pinto and Erath counties to the south-
west.
In 1887, he and brother Harvey
founded the Johnson Coal Mining
Company and contracted to sell
their coal to the Texas and Pacific
Railway; but the venture was short-
lived as undercapitalization and
Harvey Johnson’s death upended the
operation, forcing the sale of land
and mines to T&PR.
Down but not out, William
Johnson bought land, which included
part of today’s Bunker Hill Ranch
in far western Parker County, and
in 1889 resumed his mining opera-
tions. He and a partner, Harry Taylor,
dreamed large and planned not only
to operate coal mines, but build a
railroad between Weatherford and
Mineral Wells, a place fast becoming
famous for its Mineral Waters and
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