Susan's Blog - Dallas-Fort Worth Weekend Road Trip 2017

Part 2 - Fort Worth

Sunday morning, we headed over to Fort Worth, which while I knew it was a different city, I somewhat lumped it together with Dallas (due mostly in part to the name of the DFW airport, although silly me, RDU airport is the same but I think of Raleigh and Durham as different).

It actually surprised us to find out that Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas, with over 800,000 people. In September 1841, Major Jonathan Bird established a fort overlooking the Trinity River which was abandoned a couple of years later. Then in 1948, a line of seven army posts were established after the Mexican War to protect the settlers of Texas along the western American Frontier. Fort Worth was setup banks of the Trinity River. It was named for Major General William Jenkins Worth, who had proposed a line of 10 forts to mark the western Texas frontier from Eagle Pass to the confluence of the West Fork and Clear Fork of the Trinity River (unfortunately, he died from cholera before the forts were constructed). The fort was flooded the first year and moved to the top of the bluff where the current courthouse sits. The fort was abandoned in 1853 and nothing remains of the original fort.

One of its' nicknames is "cowtown", which it got by being a stop on the legendary Chisholm Trail. Millions of head of cattle were driven north to market along this trail, making Fort Worth a bustling town. Our first stop was to visit "cowtown" ... more specifically the Stockyards. By 1876, the railroad had made its' way to Fort Worth, making it an important livestock center. This gave rise to the creation of the Stockyards and a meatpacking company. By 1907, more than a million cattle were sold at the stockyards per year. The cattle auctions have since been moved out of the city and now it is an entertainment and shopping venue. The Fort Worth Stockyards are the last standing stockyards in the United States and there are still cattle drives that run through the stockyards twice a day (basically for tourists and kids).

As we arrived, we saw a couple of guys on horseback, who would eventually be doing the cattle run.

This statue celebrates the rodeo event of steer wrestling, which was originally called Bulldogging. Bill Pickett (shown with the bull) became famous with his own unique style of bulldogging. He would leap from the left side of his horse and catch the steer by the horns. He then twisted the animal's neck until he was able to reach over and sink his teeth into the steer's lip (oh, yuck!).

We walked around some of the stores that were open (we were there early and most stores didn't open until after the cattle drive) but Tom found a buddy, decorated like the Texas flag!

We then went over to see the actual cows .. this guy was licking a brick ... we have no idea why. It was misting a little bit and you could see water had accumulated on it, so maybe that was it ... but he was just slowly licking away. You can tell, we made good friends with him so he would pose really nicely for pictures.

They even had a couple of cattle with saddles that you could sit on and take pictures. Needless to say, we just took pictures!

So hopefully this works ... this is one of my first tries at getting videos to work on this page. This is the actual cattle drive, which ended up being very wet as it started raining pretty good a few minutes before it started. One of the cowboys is out front, and you can hear him making weird noises/calls to get and keep the cattle moving. The cows walk down the street with a few additional cowboys at the sides and back.

That's all for the stockyards, so we grabbed lunch at a local Mexican restaurant (that was PACKED and we had to wait 20 minutes for a table) and then headed to downtown Fort Worth.

We're going to go slightly back in time ... Between 1853 when the military fort was abandoned and 1872, Fort Worth went through a few ups and downs, but by 1872, it was recovering and general stores and a bank had already opened. And the railroad was heading West, which was bringing prosperity to the towns along it. Unfortunately for Fort Worth, the railroad was stopped just after Dallas, some 30 miles outside of Fort Worth. In 1875, the Dallas Herald published an article by a former Fort Worth lawyer who wrote that the decimation of Fort Worth's population, caused by the economic disaster and hard winter of 1873, had dealt a severe blow to the cattle industry. He said that Fort Worth was so slow that he saw a panther asleep in the street by the courthouse. It was intended as an insult, but was a 'rallying cry' (so to speak) for the residents. They banded together and got the railway completed to Fort Worth, which then allowed for the rise of the stockyards. The name "Panther City" also remains and many businesses and organizations continue to use Panther in their name (school mascots, part of the police badges). In addition, there are several sleeping panther statues around town, like these 2.

The Tarrant County Courthouse was created in the American Beaux Arts design, which was modeled after the Texas State Capitol building. It was built between 1893 and 1895 in a Renaissance Revival style using pink Texas granite. It costs SO much (over $400K) that the citizens voted all of the County Commissioners out in the 1894 election. If it looks familiar, it was used in the TV series Walker, Texas Ranger.

This is a replica of the flag pole from the original Fort Worth military fort.

The "horse fountain" pays tribute to the author of the original charter of the City of Fort Worth and also served as a water trough for the city's horses when originally built.

We took a walking tour of the downtown area from Fort Worth by Foot, which went through several blocks around Sundance Square and talked through the history (Courthouse and original Fort) and then about various buildings and things that went on as the city grew. We started in Sundance Square Plaza, which is a really nice open square in the middle of downtown. There is this huge mural on the side of the Jett Building. The 3-story mural commemorates the Fort Worth segment of The Chisholm Trail cattle drives of 1867-1875. The cattle almost seem to be coming out of the wall at you! Around it are additional mosaics with a cow head and "CT" for "CowTown".

One of the 3 water features of the plaza is this large jetted Fountain with 216 individual water nozzles. The plumes of water can go as high as 12 feet or remain steady a few inches off the ground.

On the corner of Main Street is this 1901 building, the Knights of Pythias Castle Hall. The original building from 1881 burned down in 1901. When it was rebuilt, they added a gabled roof and the turret on the corner. When the building was restored in 1981 with the revitalization efforts around Sundance Square, a replica of the original knight from 1882 was put up at the top on the front of the building. The clock on the corner dates from 1914 and is actually from the jewelry store that now reside in the building.

This is a replica of the original 1885 building. Inside are two cast iron columns from the original 1885 structure. Today, it houses the Sid Richardson Museum, which features paintings of the the American West by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. We wandered through the museum and the paintings were quite interesting. Most were quite realistic with some showing a more "glamorous" side while others either were more landscapes or showed the various struggles between the native indians and the settlers.

Nearby is the old Plaza Hotel, built in 1908. The three story hotel was built by Winfield Scott, a prominent Fort Worth rancher and businessman. It is also one of the more unique buildings in Sundance Square featuring white glazed brick with green and yellow terra cotta trim. The structure is very typical for Hotels of that time, which would have a saloon and restaurant on the ground floor and then rooms above.

Fire Station Number 1, which has really nice brick work, served Downtown until 1980. Our guide said it was currently vacant but has housed a variety of different businesses in it.

Originally the Blackstone Hotel (now a Courtyard by Marriott), this 1929 building really has some great architecture! With 23 stories, its unique stepped and spired top is a prominent part of the downtown skyline, rising up 268 feet. It is the only true "New York" style skyscraper in Fort Worth with several setbacks. One one side is this cute baker-guy in the metal covering.

The Kress building, an Art Deco building designed by Edward F. Sibbert from New York, who was the architect on many of the Kress Co. stores. We've seen lots of these Kress buildings in various cities. The chain is actually known for the architecture of its' buildings with a number of former Kress stores are recognized as architectural landmarks. The "five and dime" chain operated from 1896 all the way until 1981 (WOW) when the remaining Kress stores were sold to McCrory (who went out of business in 2001).

This building was built in 1915 in a unique Italianate style, using wrought-iron balconies, decorative brick patterning, and cast stone. It was originally the home of the Fort Worth Club. In 1937, the ground floor was remodeled with an art deco facade.

This 24-story building from 1920, originally built for the Farmers and Mechanics National Bank (later became the Fort Worth National Bank). I can't really find any information about the door, but I thought it was really nice, with the coat of arms above, along with the coins on each side. In the second picture, you can see the F and M in the decoration between the windows for Farmers and Mechanics. Around the building are the Stone-faced guardian's seen in the 3rd picture. Mind you, it didn't always look like this. In the early 1960's, the terra cotta and granite base of the building was covered by blue Mexican tile and a glass curtain wall. In 1988, the building sold and the new owners gave it yet another exterior. When it was renovated again in 2008, the 1988 base was removed to reveal the 1960's tile base. When the tiles were removed, it revealed a large portion of the original terra cotta base still intact. Using this, they restored it as close as possible to the original building.

Today, this is a high-end steak house but when it was originally built in 1890, it was a bathhouse with massive ceilings, lovely woodwork and Grecian columns. There is a story of a gambler who won a big pot of money and came here to relax in the tub. He was followed by someone who shot him in the back of the head to take his winnings. He is said to still haunt the building.

Fort Worth has it's own Flat Iron building, also called the Flat Iron building! One of the signature buildings of Fort Worth and built in 1907, it was modeled after the 1902 Flatiron Building in New York. It was one of the first steel framed office buildings in Fort Worth and was one of the tallest commercial buildings in North Texas in the early 1900's.

The W.T. Wagoner Building was one of the tallest in the State of Texas and the Southwest in 1919-1920 when it was built. It actually looks like it was modeled after the 1912-1915 Equitable Building in New York City. The Classical Building has a 2 story marble base, white brick middle, and a 2 story white brick and terra cotta top. This building is U-shaped on the upper floors and was one of the few in Fort Worth to orient the light well toward the front of the building and make it a design feature. When it was constructed the building had an artesian well for drinking water that is still used today.

I didn't take a picture of this building, just the First National Bank clock which hands at the corner of the Baker Building. Built in 1910, the building is 11 stories and is one of Fort Worth's early skyscrapers.

This is actually a new building behind the original facades of two 1880's buildings (1884 and 1887). The Reata was originally opened as one of the city's top jazz and music venues, before being converted into a restaurant. There is a small theater within the building which is still in use by the Four Day Weekend Theater. The building features a rooftop grotto bar.

This is such a great sign! This is the 1903 building of Red Goose Shoes. It is a wonderful example of early 20th century architecture in Fort Worth. It is no longer a shoe store (boo) and is now a bar. The walking tour information I had was that the original interior is intact, but we walked inside and .. well .. not really.

The Bass Performance Hall is actually a new building, opening in 1998. One of the unique architectural features are these two 48 foot high limestone angels on the front of the building. Supposedly there was a rumor that the horns were actually made of gold and early on, people were always hoping that some of the gold would come off and fall to the ground.

The Land Title Block is one of the best Victorian commercial buildings in Downtown, with just a smattering of Romanesque Revival style. The building is red brick with red sandstone trim and still has the original stained glass windows and original multi-colored glazed brick. One of the decorative pieces of sandstone shows an owl and a mockingbird while another has the initials "R.H.R.", which stands for "Ross, Herd, and Ross", which was a law firm that was an original tenant.

From there, we grabbed a latte and then hit the road back to Austin.