48 Fun Facts About Fort Worth

Fort Worth is the county seat of which Texas county?

Tarrant County's seat is Fort Worth, whose courthouse stands on the downtown bluff; the city also sprawls into Denton, Johnson, Parker and Wise counties, covering nearly 350 square miles.

The original 1849 army outpost sat on a bluff overlooking which waterway?

The post overlooked the Trinity River near where its West Fork and Clear Fork meet; after flooding in its first year it was moved to the top of the bluff, where the courthouse now stands.

Which cattle breed's trade historically centered on Fort Worth?

Fort Worth grew as a centre of the Texas Longhorn cattle trade, the drives and later the Stockyards earning it the nickname Cowtown; it still bills itself the 'City of Cowboys and Culture'.

What was the first name of General Worth, for whom the city is named?

William Jenkins Worth, a Mexican-American War general, proposed a line of ten frontier forts in January 1849 and died of cholera in San Antonio that May; the post took his name.

Which major established Camp Worth on the river bank in June 1849?

Major Ripley A. Arnold, acting on General Harney's orders to find a site near the West Fork and Clear Fork of the Trinity, established Camp Worth on 6 June 1849.

Fort Worth's long-standing slogan says it is where what begins?

'Where the West Begins' is the slogan Fort Worth has carried for about a century, contrasting its cowboy and cattle heritage with the corporate polish of neighbouring Dallas.

Cattle drives through Fort Worth followed which famous route north to Kansas?

The Chisholm Trail carried herds north from Fort Worth, the last big stop before Indian Territory, to the Kansas railheads at Abilene; the drives earned the city the nickname Cowtown.

During the Civil War, Fort Worth's population fell as low as what?

Fort Worth shrank to as few as 175 people during the Civil War as shortages of money, food and supplies drove settlers away; it recovered during Reconstruction as general stores and banks opened.

Which animal did a Dallas lawyer claim to see asleep by the courthouse in 1875?

A panther, the lawyer sneered, could sleep undisturbed in so sleepy a town; Fort Worth embraced 'Panther City' and put the cat on its police badges and, later, the Panther Island district.

Which railway's 1876 arrival triggered Fort Worth's boom?

The Texas and Pacific Railway reached Fort Worth on 19 July 1876, turning a stagnant town into a shipping hub for cattle and grain, newly dubbed the 'Queen City of the Prairies'.

Which two meatpacking giants were brought to the Stockyards by Louville Niles?

Louville Niles, the Boston businessman who was the Stockyards Company's main shareholder, persuaded Armour and Swift to open packing plants at the Stockyards in 1902.

What was the name of Fort Worth's notorious saloon and gambling district?

Hell's Half-Acre, the blocks at the south end of downtown, grew into the biggest collection of saloons, dance halls and brothels south of Dodge City during the cattle-drive years.

The vice district earned Fort Worth which nickname?

'Paris of the Plains' was the tongue-in-cheek title the Acre's saloons and bawdy houses earned Fort Worth; by 1900 the district covered four of the city's main north-south streets.

Which marshal, nicknamed 'Longhair Jim', was elected in 1876 to tame the Acre?

'Longhair Jim' Courtright, elected city marshal in 1876, jailed as many as 30 people on a Saturday night yet let the Acre's gamblers operate, which kept the district's money flowing.

Who killed the former marshal in an 1887 Main Street shootout?

Luke Short, the gambler who ran the White Elephant Saloon, shot Courtright dead on 8 February 1887; his friend Bat Masterson sat armed in Short's cell that night to head off a lynching.

Which Earp brother lived with his wife at the edge of the vice district?

James Earp, the eldest brother, lived with his wife Bessie at the Acre's edge and often tended bar at the Cattlemen's Exchange saloon uptown.

Which preacher's church was burned in 1912 after he attacked the vice district?

J. Frank Norris, the firebrand pastor of First Baptist, saw his church burn in 1912 after his anti-vice crusade; he was tried for perjury and arson over the fires and acquitted.

Which WWI army training installation's arrival helped shut down the Acre in 1917?

Camp Bowie, the 36th Division's training camp built on the city's west side in 1917, brought army pressure and martial law that finally closed the Acre's saloons and brothels.

Which president spoke at a Fort Worth Chamber breakfast on the morning of November 22, 1963?

John F. Kennedy addressed the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce breakfast at the Hotel Texas, then flew to Dallas, where he was assassinated later that day.

Natural gas beneath Fort Worth is tapped from which geological formation?

The Barnett Shale, a Mississippian-age formation beneath the city, fuelled a drilling boom: Fort Worth counted more than 1,000 gas wells by December 2009, permitted in every zoning category.

An F3 tornado struck downtown Fort Worth in which year?

The 28 March 2000 tornado, rated F3, tore through downtown and the Linwood neighbourhood; the badly damaged Bank One Tower was later converted into condominiums called The Tower.

Which downtown district, home to Bass Performance Hall, is known for nightlife?

Sundance Square, 35 blocks of restored brick buildings around Bass Performance Hall, is the downtown entertainment district; its trees are strung with white lights year-round.

Billy Bob's Texas bills itself as the world's largest what?

Honky tonk: Billy Bob's Texas, opened in the Stockyards in 1981 in a former cattle barn, claims the title with room for thousands of patrons and an indoor bull-riding arena.

A vintage train links the Stockyards to which nearby city?

The Grapevine Vintage Railroad departs from Stockyards Station.

Who designed the Kimbell Art Museum building?

Louis Kahn's 1972 Kimbell is famed for the silvery natural light washing its cycloid concrete vaults; Renzo Piano designed the 2013 pavilion across the lawn.

Which Japanese architect designed the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth?

Tadao Ando's 2002 building sets five glass-and-concrete pavilions over a reflecting pond, across the street from the Kimbell in the Cultural District.

The Sid Richardson Museum emphasises which two Western artists?

Frederic Remington and Charles Russell: oilman Sid Richardson collected their paintings of the Old West, and the Sundance Square museum opened in 1982 to show them.

Which Mexican architect designed the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History?

Ricardo Legorreta's 2009 building for the Museum of Science and History uses his trademark bold colour and a glowing lantern tower; the cultural district was built by a roll-call of contemporary architects.

The Fort Worth Water Gardens were designed by Philip Johnson and which partner?

John Burgee, Johnson's partner from 1967 to 1991, co-designed the 1974 Water Gardens, billed as a 'cooling oasis in the concrete jungle' of downtown, with its dramatic stepped Active Pool.

Which sci-fi film shot scenes in the Water Gardens' Active Pool?

Logan's Run (1976) filmed scenes at the Active Pool, where water cascades 38 feet down stepped terraces into a basin; other Dallas-Fort Worth sites stood in for the film's domed city.

Fort Worth hosts which international piano competition?

The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, held in Fort Worth every four years since 1962, honours the Texan pianist who won the first Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958.

Which style of music, the official state music of Texas, was born in Fort Worth in 1931?

Western swing grew out of Bob Wills and Milton Brown's Light Crust Doughboys, who played the Crystal Springs Dance Pavilion in 1931; Texas made it the official state music in 2011.

What is the nickname of Texas Christian University's sports teams?

The Horned Frogs take their name from the Texas horned lizard, the state reptile; the costumed mascot is SuperFrog.

TCU was founded in 1873 by brothers with which surname?

Addison and Randolph founded it as the AddRan Male & Female College.

TCU joined which athletic conference in 2012?

The Big 12 admitted TCU on 1 July 2012, after the Frogs abandoned a planned move to the Big East; the step up ended their 'BCS Buster' years alongside Boise State and Utah.

Which golf legend from Fort Worth made Colonial Country Club his home course?

Ben Hogan won the Colonial National Invitation five times, so often that the course is nicknamed 'Hogan's Alley'; a statue of him stands beside the clubhouse.

Texas Motor Speedway is a quad-oval of what length?

Nicknamed 'The Great American Speedway', it opened in 1997 in the far north of the city.

Which annual event, first held in 1896, takes over Will Rogers Memorial Center each winter?

The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo began in 1896 as a cattle show beside the Stockyards and moved to Will Rogers Memorial Center in 1944; it runs for about three weeks each winter.

Who became Fort Worth's mayor in 2021?

Mattie Parker, a 37-year-old former chief of staff to Betsy Price, won the June 2021 runoff to succeed Price, who had been mayor since 2011.

Paper money printed in Fort Worth carries which small mark in one corner?

Notes from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing's Western Currency Facility carry a small 'FW' beside the face plate number; the bureau's second plant began printing in December 1990.

FMC Carswell, inside the naval air station, houses what for female inmates?

Death row: FMC Carswell, a federal medical centre on the naval air station's grounds, holds the Bureau of Prisons' condemned women as well as female inmates needing medical care.

Fort Worth's major daily newspaper is the Star-what?

Telegram: the Fort Worth Star, founded in 1906, bought the rival Telegram in 1909 to become the Star-Telegram, the paper of the western half of the metroplex.

Which nickname did the transit agency give its free downtown bus circulator?

Molly the Trolley, a free rubber-tyred trolley bus, looped the downtown hotels and Sundance Square; Trinity Metro, formerly the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, also serves Blue Mound and River Oaks.

Which commuter rail line opened in 2019 linking downtown to DFW Airport?

TEXRail opened on 10 January 2019, running 27 miles from Fort Worth's T&P Station to DFW Terminal B with stops in North Richland Hills and Grapevine.

Before DFW opened, the city's main airport was originally named after whom?

Amon Carter Field opened in 1953 and was later renamed Greater Southwest International; it closed in 1974 when DFW opened next door, and a stub of runway survives.

DFW Airport is the second-largest US airport by land area after which one?

Denver International covers about 33,500 acres to DFW's 17,207; DFW has its own ZIP code, 75261, and a land area larger than Manhattan.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Fort Worth, in June 1980, was what?

113 °F, reached on 26 and 27 June 1980 during the Great Heat Wave; the record low is -8 °F from February 1899.

The first US Navy ship named for the city carries which hull designation?

LCS-3: USS Fort Worth, a Freedom-class littoral combat ship commissioned in 2012, was the first Navy ship named for the city.