Fort Worth Stockyards

History

The arrival of railroads in 1876 made the area a very important livestock center. Fort Worth Union Stockyards opened for business on January 19, 1890, covering 206 acres. On February 7, the Fort Worth Dressed Meat and Packing Company was founded. This facility was operated without profit until purchased by G. W. Simpson of Boston. In an effort to produce revenue, they reached out to the Swift and Armour companies to establish packing houses. By 1886, four stockyards had been built near the railroads. Boston capitalist Greenleif W. Simpson, with a half dozen Boston and Chicago associates, incorporated the Fort Worth Stock Yards Company on March 23, 1893, and purchased the Union Stock Yards and the Fort Worth Packing Company. The Stockyards experienced early success. By 1907, the Stockyards sold a million cattle per year. The stockyards was an organized place where cattle, sheep, and hogs could be bought, sold and slaughtered. Fort Worth remained an important part of the cattle industry until the 1950s. Business suffered due to livestock auctions held closer to where the livestock were originally produced.[[Image:MVI 2938 Riscky's Barbeque in Fort Worth.jpg|thumb|left|[[Riscky's Barbeque]] and a separate Riscky's Steakhouse are located in the Fort Worth Stockyards]]

The Fort Worth Stockyards was listed on the National Register as a historical district in 1976. The listing included 46 contributing buildings and one other contributing structure. the Livestock Exchange Building, and the Thannisch Block Building housing the Stockyards Hotel. State Antiquities Landmarks also include the entrance sign as well as the Armour & Swift Plaza and the Cowtown Coliseum.

The Stockyards consist of mainly entertainment and shopping venues that capitalize on the "Cowtown" image of Fort Worth. Home to the famous boot making company M.L. Leddy's which is located in the heart of the Stockyards and The Maverick Fine Western Wear and Saloon where customers "can 'belly up' to the bar, relax and have a cold beer while in the Stockyards; just like they did in the days of the big cattle drives", as they shop around the store. The city of Fort Worth is often referred to as "Where the West Begins." Some volunteers still run the cattle drives through the stockyards, a practice developed in the late 19th century by the frontiersman Charles "Buffalo" Jones, who herded buffalo calves through the streets of Garden City, Kansas.

A reenactment of a 19th-century cattle drive took place in 1999 as part of the city's sesquicentennial celebration. Weather permitting, drives continue to be held twice daily except on certain holidays. station

Gallery

File:Longhorn cattle in the Fort Worth Stockyards November 2022 looking straight at the camera.jpg|Longhorn cattle in the Fort Worth Stockyards File:Longhorn rancher in the Fort Worth Stockyards November 2022.jpg|Longhorn cattle rancher in the Fort Worth Stockyards File:Stockyards4.JPG|White Elephant Saloon File:Stockyards3.JPG|General Store and Trading Post, Star Café File:Fort Worth Stockyards.jpg|Cattle pens File:Fort Worth Stockyards June 2016 67 (Grapevine Vintage Railroad).jpg|Grapevine Vintage Railroad at the Stockyards File:Aeroplane View of Stockyards (10011976).jpg|Postcard with an aerial view of the Stockyards, undated

References

References

1. {{NRISref
2. "Fort Worth Stockyards".
3. (1986). "Chapter 35: Fort Worth Stockyards". Building the Lone Star: An Illustrated Guide to Historic Sites.
4. "Details for Fort Worth Livestock Exchange (Atlas Number 5439002029)". Texas Historical Commission.
5. "Details for Thannisch Block Building (Atlas Number 5439005278)". Texas Historical Commission.
6. "Details for Fort Worth Stock Yards Sign (Atlas Number 8200000577)". [[Texas Historical Commission]].
7. "Details for Armour & Swift Plaza (Atlas Number 8200000579)". [[Texas Historical Commission]].
8. "Details for Cowtown Coliseum (Atlas Number 8200001964)". [[Texas Historical Commission]].
9. "Stockyards Championship Rodeo". Visit Fort Worth.
10. "C.J. "Buffalo" Jones". skyways.lib.ks.us.
11. . (March 16, 2023). ["The Fort Worth Herd is Now Hiring: Applicants will have a chance to be Cowtown ambassadors."](https://fwtx.com/news/the-fort-worth-herd-is-now-hiring/). *Fort Worth Magazine*.
12. . ["Fort Worth Herd Twice Daily Cattle Drive"](https://www.fortworthstockyards.org/events/fort-worth-herd-twice-daily-cattle-drive).