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FORT WORTH, TEXAS. Fort Worth is on Interstate highways 35W, 20,
and 30 and the Clear Fork of the Trinity River in central Tarrant County. In January 1849 United
States Army General William Jenkins Worth, hero of the Mexican War, proposed a line of ten forts
to mark the western Texas frontier from Eagle Pass to the confluence of the West Fork and Clear
Fork of the Trinity River. Upon the death of Worth, Gen. William S. Harney assumed the command
and ordered Maj. Ripley S. Arnold to find a new fort site near the West Fork and Clear Fork.
This site was suggested by Middleton Tate Johnson, who once commanded a detachment of Texas
Rangers and founded Johnson Station, just southeast of what is now Fort Worth. On June 6, 1849,
Arnold established a camp on the bank of the Trinity River and named the post Camp Worth in
honor of General Worth. In August 1849 Arnold moved the camp to the north-facing bluff which
overlooked the mouth of the Clear Fork. The United States War Department officially named the
post Fort Worth on November 14, 1849. Although Indians were still a threat in the area, pioneers
were already settling near the fort. When relocating the camp, Arnold found George "Press"
Farmer living on the bluff and allowed him to open the first sutler's store. Other early
settlers were Ephraim M. Daggett, George W. Terrell, Ed Terrell, and Howard W. Peak. But when a
new line of forts was built further west, the army evacuated Fort Worth on September 17, 1853.
Settlers then took uncontested possession of the site. John Peter Smith opened a school with
twelve students in 1854; Henry Daggett and Archibald Leonard started department stores. Julian
Feild ran a general store and flour mill in 1856, and the Butterfield Overland Mail and the
Southern Pacific Stage Line used the town as a western terminus on the way to California. In
1855 the county seat war erupted. Since 1849 the county seat had been Birdville, but in 1855
Fort Worth citizens decided that this honor belonged to their town. After a long bitter fight
Fort Worth became the county seat in April 1860, and construction began on a stone county
courthouse. After a delay due to the Civil War the courthouse was finished in the 1870s,
although it burned in 1876.
During the 1860s Fort Worth suffered from the effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction. The
population dropped as low as 175, and money, food, and supply shortages burdened the residents.
Gradually, however, the town began to revive. By 1872 Jacob Samuels, William Jesse Boaz, and
William Henry Davis had opened general stores. The next year Khleber M. Van Zandt established
Tidball, Van Zandt, and Company, which became Fort Worth National Bank in 1884. Barrooms such as
Tom Prindle's Saloon and Steele's Tavern welcomed many travelers. Weekly newspapers were
prominent, including the Fort Worth Chief and the Democrat. Schools gradually reopened, and in
1869 Addison and Randolph Clark, along with Ida Clark, taught six pupils in a local church. It
was the developing cattle industry, however, that really began the community's economic boom.
Known as Cowtown, Fort Worth offered cowboys a respite from the cattle drives to Abilene,
Kansas. Northern cattle buyers established their headquarters in the town, and new businesses
included Pendery and Wilson's Liquor Wholesale, B. C. Evans dry goods, and Martin B. Loyd's
Exchange Office. In 1873 the city was incorporated with a mayor-council government, and W. P.
Burts became the first mayor. During this time the Democrat, owned by K. M. Van Zandt and under
the editorial leadership of Buckley B. Paddock, successfully campaigned for a fire department
and other civic improvements. Transportation and communication were an important part of Fort
Worth and its growth. In 1874 the first westbound stage arrived, and in 1878 the Yuma Stage Line
made Fort Worth the eastern terminus to Yuma, Arizona. The Texas and Pacific Railway designated
Fort Worth as the eastern terminus for the route to San Diego, California. After a delay caused
by the panic of 1873 the Texas and Pacific was finally completed to Fort Worth on July 19, 1876;
by 1900 the Missouri, Kansas and Texas (the "Katy"), the Santa Fe, the Fort Worth and New
Orleans, the Fort Worth and Brownwood, the Fort Worth and Rio Grande, the Fort Worth and Denver
City, the Fort Worth, Corsicana and Beaumont, and the St. Louis Southwestern (the "Cotton Belt")
served the town. The Fort Worth Street Railway Company ran a mile-long route down Main Street.
Early newspapers were the Fort Worth Standard (1873-78), the Greenback Tribune (1878-89; later
the Fort Worth Tribune), the Democrat (1876), the Democrat-Advance (1881), the Gazette
(1882-98), and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (1909-).
One of the most popular gathering places was the Texas Spring Palace, an agricultural exhibition
hall built in 1889 and destroyed by fire in 1890. The palace was not only a form of
entertainment but also an important part of the town's strategy for boosting commercial
expansion. It was advertised throughout the nation, and special trains brought visitors from as
far away as Boston and Chicago. Hell's Half Acre provided saloons and bawdy houses for cowboys
and havens for desperadoes. By 1876 Fort Worth residents were demanding that the lawlessness be
controlled, and they elected Timothy I. "Jim" Courtright as marshal. By the 1890s the Queen City
of the Prairie, as Fort Worth liked to be known, was becoming a dressed-beef center. In North
Fort Worth businessmen founded the Texas Dressed Beef and Packing Company, the Union Stockyards
Company, and the Fort Worth Stockyards Company. When Swift and Company and Armour and Company
began to look for Texas sites for branch plants, Fort Worth citizens pledged a bonus of $100,000
for the two companies if they would locate there. Because of this incentive, and because the
town was served by railroads, Armour and Swift decided to locate a meat-packing plant in Fort
Worth. The venture was successful and, combined with the stockyards, helped Fort Worth become a
leading packing-house center. In 1903 the first livestock was slaughtered in the new plants. The
rise of the stockyards and packing plants stimulated other livestock-related businesses. J. B.
Buchanan and C. E. Lee issued the Livestock Reporter and the North Fort Worth News. In 1896 the
first Fat Stock Show was held, and in 1908 the Northside Coliseum was built to house the
Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show (later the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock
Show). The city decided to begin the construction of new county courthouse in 1893. The leaders
of Fort Worth also caught the reform spirit of the Progressive era, and in 1907 the city
government was restructured to the commission form. In 1909 a devastating fire motivated the
construction of a dam on the West Fork; the resulting Lake Worth provided a reliable water
supply. The city limits were expanded to 16.83 square miles in 1909.
During World War I the United States Army established Camp Bowie (in the Arlington Heights
area), which trained 100,000 men, and the United States Army Air Force converted three airfields
into centers of aviation training. With the discovery of oil in Texas, refinery and pipeline
companies such as Sinclair Refining Company, Texaco, and Humble Oil and Refining Company (later
Exxon Company, U.S.A.) converged on Fort Worth, which also developed into a center for oil stock
exchanges. In 1927 Meacham Field opened, offering commercial and passenger service from locally
operated Braniff Airways and American Airlines. Medical care was provided by several
hospitals-Fort Worth Children's, St. Joseph's, John Peter Smith, and Harris. In 1924 the city
government was changed to the council-manager form, and the city limits were expanded to 61.57
square miles. The major additions were Arlington Heights, Riverside, Niles City, and
Polytechnic. During the Great Depression of the 1930s Fort Worth was able to secure federal
money for many construction projects, including the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum and
Auditorium, as well as the renovation and building of public schools. With the outbreak of World
War II the aviation industry came to Fort Worth. Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, the
largest manufacturer in Fort Worth, was later bought by General Dynamics Corporation. Next to
the bomber factory the Army Air Force located the Tarrant Field Air Drome, which in 1948 became
Carswell Air Force Base, a part of the Strategic Air Command and a station for the B-36. Because
the Trinity River had flooded severely in 1922 and 1949, Fort Worth residents secured federal
money to build the Trinity River Floodway. The project was completed in 1956. Texas Christian
University, Texas Wesleyan College, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary provided
higher education.
By the 1950s the downtown area had deteriorated, and in 1956 the Gruen Plan was introduced. This
plan called for a freeway loop around the central business district, the construction of
underground tunnels, and the elimination of vehicular traffic inside the loop. Although the plan
was never accepted, it emphasized the necessity of planning for the city's future needs. During
the 1960s and 1970s Fort Worth was filled with economic activity. The Tarrant County Convention
Center, the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the Amon Carter Museum, and the Kimbell Art
Museum were constructed. Amon Carter, Sr., publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, worked
diligently to promote the city's growth. He was also a successful oil operator and owned much
real estate in the area. He worked hard to publicize the city and secured government
installations and projects. During this time the city limits expanded to 272 square miles. Over
the past century the city population has boomed-6,663 in 1880, 26,668 in 1900, 277,047 in 1950,
385,164 in 1980, and 447,619 in 1990, but in spite of increasing urbanization Fort Worth has
retained its western flavor as the city "Where the West Begins." |
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