Thalia is an unincorporated town in Foard County

Foard County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,622 people, 664 households, and 438 families residing in the county. The population density was 2 people per square mile . There were 850 housing units at an average density of 1 per square mile...

 in the northern part

North Texas

North Texas is a distinct cultural and geographic area forming the central-northeastern section of the U.S. state of Texas. North Texas is generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, and north of Waco...

 of the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. As of 1990, the population was 104. Its name was given to the town portrayed in a number of Larry McMurtry

Larry McMurtry

Larry Jeff McMurtry is an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work is predominantly set in either the old West or in contemporary Texas...

's novels, including his first novel, Horseman, Pass By

Horseman, Pass By

Horseman, Pass By, is the first novel written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry. The 1961 western portrays life on a cattle ranch from the perspective of young narrator Lonnie Bannon. Set in post-World War II Texas , the Bannon ranch is owned by Lonnie's venerable grandfather, Homer...

(1961). Mcmurtry's "Thalia" is widely considered to be modeled on his own North Texas hometown of Archer City, 80 miles from Thalia.

History

Thalia was founded in Hardeman County

Hardeman County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,724 people, 1,943 households, and 1,319 families residing in the county. The population density was 7 people per square mile . There were 2,358 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile...

 and originally called "Paradise," but that name was rejected by the United States Postal Service

United States Postal Service

The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...

, so it was renamed Thalia

Thalia

Thalia was the Muse who presided over comedy and idyllic poetry. In this context her name means "flourishing", because the praises in her songs flourish through time. She was the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the eighth-born of the nine Muses....

, meaning "blooming" or "luxuriant." The townsite was donated by William W. Pigg. A post office and school were opened in 1890. When Foard County was established in 1891, Thalia was located within the borders of the new county. Thalia was incorporated in 1926 with population of 50. A high school was opened in 1930.

Thalia's economy benefited from the Texas oil boom

Texas Oil Boom

The Texas Oil Boom, sometimes called the Gusher Age, was a period of dramatic change and economic growth in U.S. state of Texas during the early 20th century that began with the discovery of a large petroleum reserve near Beaumont, Texas...

 of the 1920s but later suffered from drought, the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 and a drop in oil production. The high school shut down in 1943 and the post office was closed by 1960. The population was recorded as 104 in 1980, down from 180 in 1950. In 1990, the population was again recorded as 104.

Fiction

In addition to Horseman, Pass By, Larry McMurtry's novels Leaving Cheyenne (1963), The Last Picture Show

The Last Picture Show

The Last Picture Show is a 1971 American drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, adapted from a semi-autobiographical 1966 novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry....

(1966), Texasville

Texasville

Texasville is a 1990 American drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich. It is a sequel to The Last Picture Show, and based on the novel Texasville by Larry McMurtry....

(1987), Duane's Depressed (1999) and When the Light Goes (2007) are set in or around "Thalia". Hud

Hud (film)

Hud is a 1963 western film whose title character is an embittered and selfish modern-day cowboy. With screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr., based on Larry McMurtry's 1961 novel Horseman, Pass By, it was directed by Martin Ritt and stars Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal and...

, the film adaptation of Horseman, Pass By, was relocated from North Texas to the Texas Panhandle

Texas Panhandle

The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...

. The film adaptations of The Last Picture Show and Texasville take place in a fictionalized Anarene, Texas

Anarene, Texas

Anarene is a ghost town in Archer County, Texas, United States. Its name was used for the town portrayed in the film adaptation of Larry McMurtry's novel, The Last Picture Show.- History :...

.