Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth, Texas, grew from a lonely military outpost in 1849 to become the thriving metropolis it is in the twenty-first century. The city was an important assembly and distribution point for the cattle drives of the Old West, and was known as a "wild town" for many years. The combination of cattle, oil, agriculture, and a lot of hard work and promotion transformed Fort Worth into a thriving city. Although the modern city is a bustling business center with a diverse economy, Fort Worth fondly recalls its past, and proudly preserves its Old West heritage, with museums and events to recall that exciting, if somewhat lawless time.

Landscape

The development of Fort Worth, located in North Central Texas, near the Trinity River, has been shaped by its climate and geography. The river has always been important to the city as a source of drinking water for both humans and animals, most notably during the great cattle drives of the 1870s. The topography around the city is best described as grassy flatland, with occasional rolling hills. Trees typically found in the area include oak, elm, and pecan.

Fort Worth's climate is temperate, with hot summers and moderately cold winters. Thunderstorms occur throughout the year, but mostly during the spring. Tornadoes are the natural disaster risk in the area. On March 28, 2000, a Tornado struck Fort Worth resulting in five deaths and over $500 million in damage. The average temperature for January is 43 degrees, and during July 85 degrees. Summer high temperatures often reach into the 100s. The average rainfall is 31.4 inches per year, but drought conditions can reduce than amount greatly. The average annual humidity is 67 percent. Snowfall is rare in Fort Worth.

Global warming and climate change are increasing temperatures in Fort Worth and throughout Texas. The summer of 2023 was the hottest on record in Texas, and Forth Worth recorded its longest duration of temperatures above 80 degrees.

When it was a small developing city, Fort Worth was somewhat isolated from other towns. Over time, the area between Fort Worth and Dallas changed from open prairie to growing cities and the cities of Arlington and Grand Prairie connect Fort Worth to Dallas today. The cluster of cites, including several others next to Dallas, are known as the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and with a combined population of over five million. Fort Worth is about 30 miles west of Dallas, and it has an area of about 290 square miles.

People

As of 2022, Fort Worth's population was an estimated 956,709. The major ethnic groups in the city are White (37.7 percent of the population), Hispanic (35.2 percent) and African American (19.2 percent). Hispanic and Latino people emerged as the city's largest minority population in the 1990s and 2000s.

Like most Texas cities, Fort Worth reflects a wide variety of cultures. Familiar western symbols, such as small farms, ranches, cowboys, rodeos, and oil wells, are still quite visible. Western-themed civic and cultural events, such as the annual livestock show and rodeo held each January, are popular among city residents, as is traditional Texas food, such as steak, barbecue, and cowboy cuisine.

Due to the large number of Mexican immigrants living in the city, Fort Worth has embraced many of the celebrations important to the Mexican American community. Once a holiday exclusive to Mexican Americans, Cinco de Mayo (Fifth of May), which celebrates a Mexican military victory over the French during the 1860s, has developed into a citywide, inclusive festival of parades, traditional dances, and great food. Mexican-influenced cuisine, or Tex-Mex, is very popular in Fort Worth, with Mexican restaurants found in all areas of the city and suburbs.

The African American population of Fort Worth has always been important to the city's growth. Each year, the city celebrates Juneteenth, commemorating the abolition of slavery in Texas, which occurred on June 19, 1865. The day is marked by an event at the Fort Worth convention center, and is an important celebration for the black community.

Although the population of Fort Worth did not start out as particularly devout or charitable, the city is home to a thriving religious community today. There are more than one thousand churches and other places of worship in the city, and charitable giving in the Fort Worth area is higher than in almost any other part of the state.

Economy

During the 1870s, Fort Worth's economy was almost entirely dependent on farming and cattle. Today, the city boasts a complex economy based on many large industries and small businesses. A national leader in aviation products, electronic equipment, and refrigeration equipment, the city is home to a multitude of major corporate headquarters, offices, and distribution centers. Wholesale and distribution, transportation, communications, and food processing operations have led recent economic development.

Fort Worth is part of a large transportation network. The Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Airport has a very large effect on the local economy, providing thousands of jobs with the airlines hosted there, including American Airlines, the region's single largest employer. Railroad companies have had a vital role in the development of the Fort Worth economy, and companies such as Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad still play an important part in local commerce and shipping. Several major interstate highways pass through Fort Worth, and trade and traffic has increased due to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has relaxed trade restrictions with Mexico and Canada.

The aircraft construction industry that began during World War II continues to be an important part of the economy in Fort Worth, with defense contractors Lockheed Martin, Bell Helicopter Textron, and General Dynamics all operating in the area. In addition, many of the high-tech electronic components used in aviation manufacturing are constructed in part by companies located in Fort Worth.

Overall, the business climate in Fort Worth is quite positive, and the city's central location and lack of state income tax have enticed many businesses to relocate there. In 2012 Fort Worth retailers earned more than $10.3 billion in sales, and Inc. magazine has rated Fort Worth as one of the top cities in the country for small businesses.

Due to Fort Worth's proximity to Arlington and Dallas, the city does not have any professional major league sports teams. However, the huge Texas Motor Speedway, located in the far northern part of the city, hosts auto racing events throughout the year. College sports such as football and basketball are popular in Fort Worth, with Texas Christian University located within the city.

Landmarks

Fort Worth is a popular tourist destination that offers visitors many museums and attractions related to the city's heritage. The most recent of the city's museums is the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, which opened in 2003. The Fort Worth Stockyards Museum and National Historic District display the importance of the cattle industry in Forth Worth. Livestock pens and daily cattle drives are two of the attractions in the Stockyards District.

The city also supports many fine museums, as well as venues for the performing arts. The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, opened in 1892, is the oldest museum in Texas. The huge Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall is the home of the Fort Worth Opera, the Texas Ballet Theater, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and is considered to be one of the top ten opera houses in the world. The city also boasts the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

One of the city's main attractions is the Fort Worth Zoo. Established in 1909, it is the oldest zoo in Texas, and recognized as one of the best zoos in the country, with about one million visitors each year. While today it boasts 542 species, including 68 endangered and threatened species, when the zoo first opened it had a lion, an alligator, a coyote, two bear cubs, a peacock, and some rabbits.

Country music is the preferred style in Fort Worth, and the style is pervasive in many bars, clubs, and restaurants. One of the premier places to dance is the "World's Largest Honky-Tonk," Billy Bob's Texas, with the capacity to hold six thousand people.

History

Camp Worth was established in 1849, shortly after the Mexican-American War. Located near the Trinity River, the small US Army post was intended to be part of a network of forts marking the western frontier, and as the Army sent more troops to the area, the post was renamed Fort Worth. The frontier soon moved further west, and the army abandoned the outpost in 1853. Settlers began moving into the buildings, and a small village began to grow, helped by a stagecoach company that used the site as a station on the way to California. Fort Worth remained a sparsely populated location until after the Civil War.

Ultimately, the cattle industry, along with the thriving buffalo hide trade, put Fort Worth on the map. Cattle herds were driven from central and southern Texas north to Abilene, and then on to Chicago. In the late 1860s, one of the stops along this route was Fort Worth, which was nicknamed "Cowtown." Cattle buyers established offices in the town, and stockyards were built to hold and sort the cattle herds. By 1876, railroads had been built connecting the cattle markets to Fort Worth, thanks to the citizens of the city who completed the track when the railroad company ran out of funds. Money began flowing into the city, and the economy boomed.

Fort Worth went through a wild, lawless period as cowboys and desperados wandered through town. Men came to gamble, drink, and visit prostitutes, or "soiled doves" as they were called. Cowboys rode through town firing their guns in a riotous display referred to as "shooting up the town," and engaged in frequent fistfights and gunfights. The part of town plagued by such problems became known as "Hell's Half Acre." It would be many years before Fort Worth shed its "wild west" reputation.

By the first decades of the twentieth century, Fort Worth's economy had expanded, attracting large companies to the city. Thanks to the railroad, Fort Worth became an important city in the meat-packing industry, and the Armor and Swift corporations both opened meat-packing plants in Fort Worth after being offered a $100,000 "bonus" by the city. In addition, oil was discovered ninety miles west of Fort Worth in 1917, and the city became a regional headquarters for several oil companies, and later, oil stock exchanges.

Aviation grew from a curiosity in 1911, to a crucial part of Fort Worth's economy. During World War II, the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation built a bomber factory there, and became the largest employer in the city. Vultee was later purchased by the General Dynamics Corporation, which continues to operate in Fort Worth today. The city's central location in the lower part of the United States eventually attracted the attention of major airlines, and a large airport was built. The construction of the Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Airport, one of the largest airports in the world, brought thousands of jobs to the area.

Diversification and strong growth characterized the period from the early 1950s to the 1980s. The population of the city increased from about 27,000 in 1900, to 385,000 in 1980. The dramatic increase made Fort Worth a large city, with large city problems. The downtown area had suffered from the growth of the suburbs, and had become a problem that needed addressing by the 1950s. Plans were made to renovate downtown, but many more years would pass before the money was gathered to make changes. Finally, during the 1960s and 1970s, the downtown problem was partially solved by building large public- and corporate-use structures, most notably the Tarrant County Convention Center, and a number of art museums.

With the rapid population growth of the whole Dallas–Fort Worth area, smaller cities between the two larger ones have grown next to each other, and formed what is in effect one large city, or metroplex, with a combined population of nearly seven million people in 2023.

Bibliography

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Nichols, Mike. Lost Fort Worth. Charleston: History, 2014. Print.

Pate, J’Nell L. Arsenal of Defense: Fort Worth’s Military Legacy. Denton: Texas State Historical Assn., 2011. Print.

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