Mark In Texas History: Mineola Black Spiders remembered as one of South’s best baseball teams

MINEOLA, Texas (KLTV) - As part of Black History Month, we are featuring a piece of black history in Texas every week. This week, we take a look at the Mineola Black Spiders.

The Mineola Black Spiders were an all-black baseball team in the times of desegregation. The Black Spiders were comprised of players from the town. Sporting solid gray uniforms, the team played at Epperson Park in south Mineola. They traveled to towns like Dallas, Commerce and Shreveport. With players like Clarence “Brushback” Wheeler and “Little Snoop” Parker, the team gained a reputation as one of the fastest in the south.

By 1932, the Spiders left Mineola for the Midwest and became a barnstorming team. The team had a record of 34-1 in 1936. The team disbanded in 1938. A historical marker recognizing the Black Spiders was created in 2010 and sits next to marker made by the Mineola Historic Preservation Foundation.

The marker is at the intersection of South Pacific Street and South Johnson Street in Mineola.

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