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Fort Worth Information
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,qv hero of the Mexican War,qv 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. Harneyqv assumed the command and ordered Maj. Ripley S. Arnoldqv to find a new fort site near the West Fork and Clear Fork. This site was suggested by Middleton Tate Johnson,qv who once commanded a detachment of Texas Rangersqv 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,qv 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 Smithqv opened a school with twelve students in 1854; Henry Daggett and Archibald Leonard started department stores. Julian Feildqv ran a general store and flour mill in 1856, and the Butterfield Overland Mailqv 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 Warqv 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.qv 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 Zandtqv 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,qqv 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-councilqv 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,qv 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-Telegramqv (1909-). |
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