The Alba Museum
The Alba Museum has lots of great artifacts collected by Saundra Burge from folks all around the area. Come in and take a look!
Alba History
Joseph Simpkins and his family settled Alba in 1843. Alba was first known as Simpkins Prairie. Alba continued to be settled in the next 30 years or so. Living in the immediate Alba area were about 40 settlers. These people were busy clearing land and farming. Supplies had to be hauled by teams of oxen from Jefferson, Texas. The laying out of town lots was in 1881. The town was incorporated in 1908. The city was created under the Mayor Council type of government. The coming of the M.K.&T Railroad in 1881 played a very important part in the economy of the town. In 1887 a depot was built in Alba. In 1901 the Short Line Railroad was built between Alba and Grand Saline.
Cotton was "King" in the early years with the rich fertile soil in the area. Alba had the largest cotton market in East Texas. There were as many as four cotton gins operating in the area. In the late 1890's, coal was discovered and this began an era that would last until about 1940. Alba is located over a broad vein of lignite coal which extends from Texarkana south and west across the state. During the coal mining period there were as many as 7 mines operating at one time. The mines employed about 650 men.
Alba was a growing town with 2 banks, 25 business houses, 2 hotels, meat markets, jewelry store, 2 theaters, blacksmith shops, tailor shops, newspapers, new car dealerships and 3 drugstores. There were 5 doctors and several dentists and lawyers.
After the depression Alba began to decline with the closing of the banks. Until about that time Alba had a population of 1,200 in the city with about 5,000 people in the immediate area. About the same time the cotton weevil hit the cotton crop and the farmers quit growing cotton. The closing of the mines about 1940 was the last blow for the area. The factories that once used the coal switched to natural gas. Many people left the area to work in the defense plants during W.W.II.
The discovery of oil in the area in 1948 gave life to some people's hope that Alba might again become a thriving city. The oil turned out to be a very poor grade of oil. It did bring Alba to life again but it didn't last.
New hope came to Alba in the 1970's with the building of Lake Fork. Alba is located on the southern edge of Lake Fork. Lake Fork is the bass capital of Texas. The state record bass was caught in Lake Fork in 1992.