White Rose Community

Newcastle, Texas is in the T.E. & L. Survey, Abstract No. 846. A contract was signed in 1907 where a railroad line would extend from Wichita Falls to the coal rich prairie north of Belknap. The railroad would be owned by J.A. Kemp, Frank Kell, R.E. Huff and C.C. Huff and would be called the Wichita Falls and Southern. Construction on the railroad and coal mines began with the train arriving in the area by 1908. The Belknap Coal Company was formed by J.A. Kemp, Frank Kell, and Joe J. Perkins.

The Perkins Townsite was created by Joe J. Perkins in 1908. Town lots were for sale on September 22, 1908. There were $25,000 worth of town lots sold between 11:30 am and noon, and then from 2:00-5:00 pm on the first day. The community began to grow. The main business in town was the mining of coal which could be found in abundance. At one time, there were five coal mines in the Newcastle area. The peak years of the Belknap Coal Company were from 1910 to 1917 according to local accounts. During those years, there were 60 miners with a payroll of $16,000 a month [$500,000 in 2022]. In 1908, there were four lumber yards in Newcastle and a fifth bought lots to build on the first day of the sale of lots.

In March of 1908, the post office in Belknap was moved to the new community changing the name to Newcastle. The first postmaster was Thomas J. McCrary, the president of the Belknap Coal Company.

By October of 1908, the Newcastle Register was opened for business. The newspaper’s last owner and editor was Gaspard Neal. Roy Coffield opened the First State Bank with a shoe box of money in 1908.

With the beginning of September 1908, trains from Wichita Falls to town of Newcastle, the train first stopped at the coal mine #2 which was located on a spur of the road, just north of town. Coal was coming up from a shaft of 110 feet deep. The coal vein of this mine is 53 inches thick. Shaft #1 was located on the south end of town and is 40 feet deep.

In 1911, the Wichita Falls and Southern was sold to the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, and was operated until 1920 when it was purchased Frank Kell and J.A. Kemp. In 1921, the line was extended from Newcastle through Graham to Breckenridge.

Newcastle had four cotton gins at one time. The Jones Brothers Gin was in the northwest part of town. The E.C. Keith and Dan Keith Cotton Gin was on the west side of town. A third gin, was on the west side of Newcastle on the Olney Highway which was operated by A.C. Duckett. The last cotton gin was on the east side of town on the Olney highway operated by T.J. Routon. Newcastle’s cotton gins have all closed and been demolished.

Newcastle’s first school was a frame structure located just east of the present brick building. The second school was a two-story structure which served the purposes of the community until a new brick building was constructed in the 1920s.

The Newcastle Masonic Lodge No. 1057 was chartered on January 1, 1912. R.H. Helm was the first worshipful Master.

After the closing of the coal mines, the railroad was abandoned in the 1950s.

submitted by: Dorman Holub