Driving north on U.S. 69 through Mineola in Wood County, the community’s school spirit is evident when one sees the big sign that says Mineola Independent School District “We Are The Champions.” The sign recognizes the 2016 State Champion Mineola Yellowjackets in 3A Division 1 football. It also recognizes that the Mineola Marching Band won the UIL 3A State Championship in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2024. Impressive accomplishments no doubt, resulting from the hard work and dedication of many, both past and present.
A little bit behind the sign, and not quite as prominently displayed, is something I found equally impressive and even historic – a Texas Historical Commission Marker recognizing the Mineola Black Spiders.
The Mineola Black Spiders were an independent all-black baseball team that originated in and were loosely based in Mineola, Texas. Formed by Vernon Klingaman, the Spiders entered tournaments and barnstormed across the country as they attracted strong players from outside Mineola. They first traveled in 1932, and continued traveling until at least 1941.
Referred to in newspapers as the Texas Black Spiders, they were often noted as the “Champions of Texas.” Other sources list them as the Black Spiders of Mineola, although some accounts also listed them as the Texas Black Spiders of Galveston or the Fort Worth Black Spiders. They were entered into the National Semi-Pro Baseball Tournament as the Waverly, Iowa, Black Spiders.
The team first set out for the Midwest in a black school bus with the team’s name on the side. The bus had no windows and featured a cobweb in the back.
The club traveled extensively, arriving in Iowa in July 1932, and the players played for a percentage of the gate. According to Larry Powell’s “Black Barons of Birmingham: The South’s Greatest Negro League Team and Its Players,” by the end of July, a dispute arose over player payments and 10 players voted to leave the team. The players were purchased by the managers of the semi-pro Mason City Black Bats and Klingaman returned to Mineola with the remaining players.
Having heard and read a little about the Mineola Black Spiders, I wanted to learn more. Realizing we would be traveling through Mineola to another destination, I knew I wanted to stop and see the marker. Finding it was a little more challenging than I expected. However, it is at the intersection of South Pacific Street (U.S. 69) and South Johnson Street, on the left when traveling north on South Pacific Street. The Historical Marker Database lists the coordinates as 32° 39.411' N, 95° 29.418' W.
The Texas Historical Commission Marker reads: “In the 1800s and into the first half of the twentieth century, African-American baseball teams played separately from white teams. The Community of Mineola, though small in population, had both white and black baseball teams. The Mineola Black Spiders was composed of African-American men and youth from the town. The ballplayers wore solid grad uniforms and played at Epperson Park in South Mineola, in addition to traveling to games in Dallas, Commerce, Shreveport (Louisiana), and other places. Home games sometimes attracted around 200 spectators.
“Vernon Klingaman, who moved to Texas in the late 1920s, settling in Mineola, soon became involved with the team. He expanded the roster, opening it to non-residents, and changed the name to the Texas Black Spiders. In 1932, the players departed Mineola for the midwest, becoming a barnstorming team, staging exhibition games in various locations. That year, the team underwent a name change, becoming the Mason City Black Bats. They headquartered in Iowa, though most members would return to the Spiders’ Squad, while others moved back to Texas.
“The Black Spiders gained a reputation as being one of the fastest teams from the south. They were also very successful; in 1936, the Spiders’ record was 34-1. However, by 1937, there was a substantial turnover in team personnel. The Black Spiders fielded a team in 1938, but disbanded afterward. Today, the team is mostly forgotten in Mineola. However, the Black Spiders remain a significant part of the community’s history as a black baseball team that became a success locally and in the Midwestern United States.”
In addition to the Texas Historical Commission Marker is a sign erected by the Mineola Historic Preservation Foundation through the contributions of Billy McCalla Sr., Haywood Epperson and Kevin Sherrington.
Inscribed on the sign is the following narrative written by Tillman Cooke, a retired educator and coach and longtime resident of Mineola.
“The Mineola Black Spiders were minor league baseball players who played in a league where only the ball was “white.” Consisting of 27 players clad in solid gray uniforms, figuratively speaking, could thump the cover of a baseball. All home games were played at Epperson Park (south Mineola). It was a “patch” fenced area equipped with a grandstand manned with excitable, screaming fans. Although the Spiders were no publicized baseball players as Satchel Paige or Josh Gibson of the Negro League, their arsenal was explosive. Joshua Epperson (catcher), Joe Epperson (shortstop), Isaiah Carpenter (catcher), Henry Thomas (outfield), Clarence “brush back” Wheeler (1st base, pitcher) “Little Snoop” Parker (infield), Eldridge Arthur (outfield), and J.B. Griffin (pitcher) were a few of these “swatters.” Frankly speaking, all of the spiders could inflict pain upon a baseball. “Little Snoop” Parker was a tremendous hitter, so were Joe and Joshua Epperson. The Spiders were not used to playing for large crowds in excess of 200 people. A couple of local Mineola businessmen owned the Spiders and sought to entice them into becoming an integral part of an established minor league franchise in Iowa, but they refused to accept the challenge. It is estimated Mineola’s Black Spiders played approximately fifteen to twenty games in a season. Their debut began somewhere in the middle 1930s.” n
