The city of Fort Worth was established in 1849 as an army outpost on a bluff overlooking theTrinity River.[12] Fort Worth has historically been a center of theTexas Longhorn cattle trade.[12] It still embraces its Western heritage and traditional architecture and design.[13][14]USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) is the first ship of theUnited States Navy named after the city.[15] Nearby Dallas has held a population majority in the metropolitan area for as long as records have been kept, yet Fort Worth has become one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States.
TheTreaty of Bird's Fort between theRepublic of Texas and several Native American tribes was signed in 1843 at Bird's Fort in present-dayArlington, Texas.[17][18] Article XI of the treaty provided that no one may "pass the line of trading houses" (at the border of the Indians' territory) without permission of thePresident of Texas, and may not reside or remain in the Indians' territory. These "trading houses" were later established at the junction of the Clear Fork and West Fork of the Trinity River in present-day Fort Worth.[19]
GeneralWilliam S. Harney assumed command of the Department of Texas and ordered MajorRipley A. Arnold (Company F, Second United States Dragoons)[20] to find a new fort site near the West Fork and Clear Fork. On June 6, 1849, Arnold, advised by Middleton Tate Johnson, established a camp on the bank of the Trinity River and named the post Camp Worth in honor of the late General Worth. In August 1849, Arnold moved the camp to the north-facing bluff, which overlooked the mouth of the Clear Fork of the Trinity River. The United States War Department officially named the post Fort Worth on November 14, 1849.[21] Since its establishment, the city of Fort Worth continues to be known as "where the West begins".[12]
E. S. Terrell (1812–1905) from Tennessee claimed to be the first resident of Fort Worth.[22] The fort was flooded the first year and moved to the top of the bluff; the current courthouse was built on this site. The fort was abandoned September 17, 1853.[20] No trace of it remains.
As a stop on theChisholm Trail, Fort Worth was stimulated by the business of the cattle drives and became a brawling, bustling town. Millions of head of cattle were driven north to market along this trail. Fort Worth became the center of thecattle drives, and later, theranching industry. It was given the nickname of Cowtown.[23]
During theAmerican Civil War, Fort Worth suffered from shortages of money, food, and supplies. The population dropped as low as 175, but began to recover duringReconstruction. By 1872, Jacob Samuels, William Jesse Boaz, and William Henry Davis had opened general stores. The next year, Khleber M. Van Zandt established Tidball, Van Zandt, and Company, which became Fort Worth National Bank in 1884.
In 1875, theDallas Herald published an article by a former Fort Worth lawyer, Robert E. Cowart, 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. Added to the slowdown due to the railroad's stopping the laying of track 30 miles (48 km) outside of Fort Worth, Cowart said that Fort Worth was so slow that he saw apanther asleep in the street by the courthouse. Although an intended insult, the name Panther City was enthusiastically embraced when in 1876 Fort Worth recovered economically.[24] Many businesses and organizations continue to use Panther in their name. A panther is set at the top of the police department badges.[25]
Lithograph of Fort Worth, 1876
The "Panther City" tradition is also preserved in the names and design of some of the city's geographical/architectural features, such as Panther Island (in the Trinity River), the Flat Iron Building,Fort Worth Central Station, and in two or three "Sleeping Panther" statues.
Map – showing – the Geographical location of Fort-Worth, Tex., and Rail-Roads, 1888
In 1876, theTexas and Pacific Railway finally was completed to Fort Worth, stimulating a boom and transforming theFort Worth Stockyards into a premier center for the cattle wholesale trade.[26] Migrants from the devastated war-torn South continued to swell the population, and small, community factories and mills yielded to larger businesses. Newly dubbed the "Queen City of the Prairies",[27] Fort Worth supplied a regional market via the growing transportation network.
Fort Worth became the westernmost railhead and a transit point for cattle shipment. Louville Niles, aBoston,Massachusetts-based businessman and main shareholder of the Fort Worth Stockyards Company, is credited with bringing the two biggestmeatpacking firms at the time,Armour andSwift, to the stockyards.[28]
With the boom times came a variety of entertainments and related problems. Fort Worth had a knack for separating cattlemen from their money. Cowboys took full advantage of their last brush with civilization before the long drive on theChisholm Trail from Fort Worth north toKansas. They stocked up on provisions from local merchants, visited saloons for a bit of gambling and carousing, then rode northward with their cattle, only to whoop it up again on their way back. The town soon became home to "Hell's Half-Acre", the biggest collection of saloons, dance halls, and bawdy houses south ofDodge City (the northern terminus of the Chisholm Trail), giving Fort Worth the nickname of the "Paris of the Plains".[29][30]
Certain sections of town were off-limits for proper citizens. Shootings, knifings, muggings, and brawls became a nightly occurrence. Cowboys were joined by a motley assortment of buffalo hunters, gunmen, adventurers, and crooks. Hell's Half Acre (also known as simply "The Acre") expanded as more people were drawn to the town. Occasionally, the Acre was referred to as "the bloody Third Ward" after it was designated one of the city's three political wards in 1876. By 1900, the Acre covered four of the city's main north-south thoroughfares.[31] Local citizens became alarmed about the activities, electingTimothy Isaiah "Longhair Jim" Courtright in 1876 ascity marshal with a mandate to tame it.
Courtright sometimes collected and jailed 30 people on a Saturday night, but allowed the gamblers to operate, as they attracted money to the city. After learning that train and stagecoach robbers, such as theSam Bass gang, were using the area as a hideout, he intensified law enforcement, but certain businessmen advertised against too many restrictions in the area as having bad effects on the legitimate businesses. Gradually, the cowboys began to avoid the area; as businesses suffered, the city moderated its opposition. Courtright lost his office in 1879.[31]
Despite crusading mayors such asH.S. Broiles and newspaper editors such as B. B. Paddock, the Acre survived because it generated income for the city (all of it illegal) and excitement for visitors. Longtime Fort Worth residents claimed the place was never as wild as its reputation, but during the 1880s, Fort Worth was a regular stop on the "gambler's circuit" byBat Masterson,Doc Holliday, and theEarp brothers (Wyatt, Morgan, and Virgil).[31]James Earp, the eldest of his brothers, lived with his wife in Fort Worth during this period; their house was at the edge of Hell's Half Acre, at 9th and Calhoun. He often tended bar at the Cattlemen's Exchange saloon in the "uptown" part of the city.[32]
Reforming citizens objected to thedance halls, where men and women mingled; by contrast, the saloons or gambling parlors had primarily male customers.
In the late 1880s, Mayor Broiles and County Attorney R. L. Carlock initiated a reform campaign. In a public shootout on February 8, 1887, Jim Courtright was killed on Main Street byLuke Short, who claimed he was "King of Fort Worth Gamblers".[31] As Courtright had been popular, when Short was jailed for his murder, rumors floated of lynching him. Short's good friend Bat Masterson came armed and spent the night in his cell to protect him.
The firstprohibition campaign in Texas was mounted in Fort Worth in 1889, allowing other business and residential development in the area. Another change was the influx ofBlack and African American residents. Excluded by statesegregation from the business end of town and the more costly residential areas, the city's black citizens settled into the southern portion of the city. The popularity and profitability of the Acre declined and more derelicts and the homeless were seen on the streets. By 1900, most of the dance halls and gamblers were gone. Cheap variety shows and prostitution became the chief forms of entertainment. Some progressive politicians launched an offensive to seek out and abolish these perceived "vices" as part of the broaderProgressive Era package of reforms.[31]
Texas and Pacific Railway yard in Fort Worth, 1916Postcard of the Fort Worth business district, 1921Texas and Pacific Passenger Station, Fort Worth (postcard,circa 1909)
In 1911, the ReverendJ. Frank Norris launched an offensive against racetrack gambling in theBaptist Standard and used the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Fort Worth to attack vice and prostitution. When he began to link certain Fort Worth businessmen with property in the Acre and announced their names from his pulpit, the battle heated up. On February 4, 1912, Norris's church was burned to the ground; that evening, his enemies tossed a bundle of burning oiled rags onto his porch, but the fire was extinguished and caused minimal damage. A month later, thearsonists succeeded in burning down theparsonage. In a sensational trial lasting a month, Norris was charged withperjury and arson in connection with the two fires. He was acquitted, but his continued attacks on the Acre accomplished little until 1917. A new city administration and the federal government, which was eyeing Fort Worth as a potential site for amajor military training camp, joined forces with the Baptist preacher to bring down the final curtain on the Acre.
PresidentKennedy in Fort Worth on Friday morning, November 22, 1963. He was assassinated in Dallas later in the day.
The police department compiled statistics showing that 50% of the violent crime in Fort Worth occurred in the Acre, which confirmed respectable citizens' opinion of the area. After Camp Bowie (a World War IU.S. Army training installation) was located on the outskirts of Fort Worth in 1917, the military usedmartial law to regulate prostitutes and barkeepers of the Acre. Fines and stiff jail sentences curtailed their activities. By the time Norris held a mock funeral parade to "buryJohn Barleycorn" in 1919, the Acre had become a part of Fort Worth history. The name continues to be associated with the southern end of Fort Worth.[33]
In 1921, the whites-only union workers in the Fort Worth, Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in the Niles City Stockyards went on strike. The owners attempted to replace them with blackstrikebreakers. During union protests, strikebreaker African-AmericanFred Rouse was lynched on a tree at the corner of NE 12th Street and Samuels Avenue. After he was hanged a white mob riddled his mutilated body with gunshots.[34]
On November 21, 1963, PresidentJohn F. Kennedy arrived in Fort Worth, speaking the next morning before a breakfast meeting of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, then proceeding to Dallas where he was assassinated later that day.
When oil began to gush inWest Texas in the early 20th century, and again in the late 1970s, Fort Worth was at the center of the boom. By July 2007, advances in horizontal drilling technology made vastnatural gas reserves in theBarnett Shale available directly under the city,[35] helping many residents receive royalty checks for their mineral rights. Today, the City of Fort Worth and many residents are dealing with the benefits and issues associated with the natural-gas reserves underground.[36][37]
OnMarch 28, 2000, at 6:15 pm, anF3 tornado struck downtown Fort Worth, severely damaging many buildings. One of the hardest-hit structures was the Bank One Tower, which was one of the dominant features of the Fort Worth skyline and which had "Reata," a popular restaurant, on its top floor. It has since been converted to upscalecondominiums and officially renamed "The Tower." This was the first majortornado to strike Fort Worth proper since the early 1940s.[38]
From 2000 to 2006, Fort Worth was the fastest-growing large city in the United States;[39] it was voted one of "America's Most Livable Communities".[40] In addition to thereversal migration, many African Americans have been relocating to Fort Worth for its affordable cost of living and job opportunities.[41]
In 2020, Fort Worth's mayor announced the city's continued growth to 20.78%.[42] The U.S. Census Bureau also noted the city's beginning of greater diversification from 2014–2018.[43]
Fort Worth is located inNorth Texas, and has a generally humid subtropical climate.[44] It is part of theCross Timbers region;[45] this region is a boundary between the more heavily forested eastern parts and the rolling hills and prairies of the central part. Specifically, the city is part of theGrand Prairie ecoregion within the Cross Timbers. According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 349.2 square miles (904 km2), of which 342.2 square miles (886 km2) are land and 7.0 square miles (18 km2) are covered by water. It is a principal city in theDallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and the second largest by population.
Fort Worth contains over 1,000 natural-gas wells (December 2009 count) tapping the Barnett Shale.[46] Each well site is a bare patch of gravel 2–5 acres (8,100–20,200 m2) in size. As city ordinances permit them in all zoning categories, including residential, well sites can be found in a variety of locations. Some wells are surrounded by masonry fences, but most are secured by chain link.
A large storage dam was completed in 1914 on the West Fork of the Trinity River, 7 miles (11 km) from the city, with a storage capacity of 33,495 acre feet of water.[47] The lake formed by this dam is known asLake Worth.
Downtown Fort Worth consists of numerous districts comprising commercial and retail, residential, and entertainment. Among them,Sundance Square is a mixed-use district and popular for nightlife and entertainment. TheBass Performance Hall is located within Sundance Square. Nearby Upper West Side is also a notable district within downtown Fort Worth. It is bound roughly by Henderson Street to the east, the Trinity River to the west,Interstate 30 to the south, and White Settlement Road to the north. The neighborhood contains several small and mid-sized office buildings and urban residences, but very little retail.
TheFort Worth Stockyards are aNational Historic District.[48] The Stockyards was once among the largest livestock markets in the United States and played a vital role in the city's early growth.[49] Today the neighborhood is characterized by its many bars, restaurants, and notable country music venues such asBilly Bob's. Fort Worth celebrity chefTim Love ofIron Chef America andTop Chef Masters has operated multiple restaurants in the neighborhood.[50][51] There is a mall at the Stockyards Station and a train viaGrapevine Vintage Railroad that connects to downtownGrapevine.[52]Cowtown Coliseum hosts a weekly rodeo and also has the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame.[53][54] The world's largest honky tonk is also in the Stockyards atBilly Bob's.[55] At the Fort Worth Stockyards, Fort Worth is the only major city that hosts a daily cattle drive.[56]
Tanglewood consists of land in the low areas along the branch of the Trinity River and is approximately five miles southwest from the Fort Worth central business district.[57][58] The Tanglewood area lies within two surveys. The western part of the addition is part of the 1854 Felix G. Beasley survey, and the eastern part, along the branch of the river, is the 1876 James Howard survey. The original approach to the Tanglewood area consisted of a two-rut dirt road, which is now Bellaire Drive South. Up to the time of development, children enjoyed swimming in the river in a deep hole that was located where the bridge is now on Bellaire Drive South near Trinity Commons Shopping Center. The portions of Tanglewood that are now Bellaire Park Court, Marquette Court, and Autumn Court were originally a dairy farm.
Downtown Fort Worth, with its unique rustic architecture, is mainly known for itsArt Deco-style buildings. TheTarrant County Courthouse was created in the AmericanBeaux Arts design, which was modeled after theTexas State Capitol building. Most of the structures around downtown'sSundance Square have preserved their early 20th-centuryfaçades. Multiple blocks surrounding Sundance Square are illuminated at night in Christmas lights year-round.
Fort Worth has ahumid subtropical climate (Cfa) according to theKöppen climate classification system, and is within USDAhardiness zone 8a.[59] This region features very hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters. The hottest month of the year is August, when the average high temperature is 96 °F (35.6 °C), and overnight low temperatures average 75 °F (23.9 °C), giving an average temperature of 85 °F (29.4 °C).[60] The coldest month of the year is January, when the average high temperature is 56 °F (13.3 °C) and low temperatures average 35 °F (1.7 °C).[60] The average temperature in January is 46 °F (8 °C).[60] The highest temperature ever recorded in Fort Worth is 113 °F (45.0 °C), on June 26, 1980, during theGreat 1980 Heat Wave, and June 27, 1980.[61] The coldest temperature ever recorded in Fort Worth was −8 °F (−22.2 °C) on February 12, 1899. Because of its position in North Texas, Fort Worth is very susceptible tosupercell thunderstorms, which produce large hail and can producetornadoes.
The average annual precipitation for Fort Worth is 34.01 inches (863.9 mm).[60] The wettest month of the year is May, when an average of 4.58 inches (116.3 mm) of precipitation falls.[60] The driest month of the year is January, when only 1.70 inches (43.2 mm) of precipitation falls.[60] The driest calendar year since records began has been 1921 with 17.91 inches (454.9 mm) and the wettest 2015 with 62.61 inches (1,590.3 mm). The wettest calendar month has been April 1922 with 17.64 inches (448.1 mm), including 8.56 inches (217.4 mm) on April 25.
The average annual snowfall in Fort Worth is 2.6 inches (66.0 mm).[62] The most snowfall in one month has been 13.5 inches (342.9 mm) in February 1978, and the most in a season 17.6 inches (447.0 mm) in 1977/1978.
TheNational Weather Service office, which serves the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, is based in northeastern Fort Worth.[63]
Fort Worth’s warm climate and mix of urban and natural spaces support a wide range of native wildlife, including raccoons, squirrels, skunks, armadillos, and opossums. As residential development expands near creeks and wooded areas, residents increasingly encounter these species around homes and neighborhoods. City and state agencies encourage humane prevention and exclusion practices to minimize property damage and reduce human–wildlife conflict.[66][67][68]
There were 337,072 housing units, 308,188 households, and 208,389 families at the 2018 census estimates.[70] The average household size was 2.87 persons per household, and the average family size was 3.50. Fort Worth had an owner-occupied housing rate of 56.4% and renter-occupied housing rate of 43.6%. Themedian income in 2018 was $58,448 and themean income was $81,165.[71] The city had a per capita income of $29,010.[72] Roughly 15.6% of Fort Worthers lived at or below the poverty line.[73]
In 2010's American Community Survey census estimates there were 291,676 housing units,[74] 261,042 households, and 174,909 families.[75] Fort Worth had an average household size of 2.78 and the average family size was 3.47. A total of 92,952 households had children under 18 years living with them. There were 5.9% opposite sex unmarried-partner households and 0.5% same sex unmarried-partner households in 2010. The owner-occupied housing rate of Fort Worth was 59.0% and the renter-occupied housing rate was 41.0%. Fort Worth's median household income was $48,224 and the mean was $63,065.[76] An estimated 21.4% of the population lived at or below the poverty line.[77]
A study determined Fort Worth as one of the most diverse cities in the United States in 2019.[82] For contrast, in 1970, theU.S. Census Bureau reported Fort Worth's population as 72% non-Hispanic white, 19.9% African American, and 7.9% Hispanic or Latino.[80] By the2020 census,[78] continued population growth spurred further diversification with 36.6% of the population being non-Hispanic white, 34.8% Hispanic or Latino American of any race, and 19.2% Black or African American; Asian Americans increased to forming 5.1% of the population, reflecting nationwide demographic trends at the time.[83][84][85] In 2020, a total of 31,485 residents were oftwo or more races.[78]
Located within theBible Belt,Christianity is the largest collective religious group in Fort Worth proper, andthe Metroplex. Both Dallas andDallas County, and Fort Worth and Tarrant County have a plurality ofRoman Catholic residents.[86][87] Overall, the Dallas metropolitan division of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex is more religiously diverse than Fort Worth and its surrounding suburbs, particularly in the principal cities' counties.
Among Fort Worther's non-Christian community,Islam andJudaism were the second- and third-largest religious communities.[89] According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, there were an estimated 37,488 Muslims and 2,413 Jews living in Fort Worth's vicinity, although the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life estimated 5,000 Jews in 2010.[95] Religions includingHinduism andBaha'i had a minuscule presence in the Fort Worth area according to the 2020 study, andChristendom remained more prevalent than in the Dallas metropolitan division.[89]
At its inception, Fort Worth relied on cattle drives that traveled theChisholm Trail. Millions of cattle were driven north to market along this trail, and Fort Worth became the center of cattle drives, and later, ranching until theAmerican Civil War. During the American Civil War, Fort Worth suffered shortages causing its population to decline. It recovered during theReconstruction with general stores, banks, and "Hell's Half-Acre", a large collection of saloons and dance halls which increased business and criminal activity in the city. By the early 20th century the military used martial law to regulate Hell's Half-Acre's bartenders and prostitutes.
American Airlines DC-3 NC21798 "Flagship Knoxville" on permanent display at the CR Smith Museum
Building on itsFrontier Western heritage and a history of strong local arts patronage, Fort Worth promotes itself as the "City of Cowboys and Culture".[98] Fort Worth has the world's first and largest indoor rodeo,[99] world-class museums, a calendar of festivals and a robust local arts scene. TheAcademy of Western Artists, based inGene Autry,Oklahoma, presents its annual awards in Fort Worth in fields related to the American cowboy, including music, literature, and even chuck wagon cooking.[100] Fort Worth is also the 1931 birthplace of the Official State Music of Texas—Western Swing, which was created byBob Wills andMilton Brown and theirLight Crust Doughboys band in a ramshackle dancehall 4 miles west of downtown at the Crystal Springs Dance Pavilion.[101]
TheFort Worth Botanic Garden and theBotanical Research Institute of Texas are also in the city. For those interested in hiking, birding, or canoeing, theFort Worth Nature Center and Refuge in northwest Fort Worth is a 3,621-acre preserved natural area designated by the Department of the Interior as a National Natural Landmark Site in 1980. Established in 1964 as the Greer Island Nature Center and Refuge, it celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014.[103] The Nature Center has a small, genetically purebison herd, and nativeprairies,forests, andwetlands. It is one of the largest urban parks of its type in the United States.[104]
Fort Worth has a total of 263 parks with 179 of those being neighborhood parks. The total acres of parkland is 11,700.72 acres with the average being about 12.13 acres per park.[105]
There are two off-leashdog parks located in the city, ZBonz Dog Park and Fort Woof. The park includes anagility course, water fountains, shaded shelters, and waste stations.[108]
The revival of the TCU football program began underDennis Franchione with the success of running backLaDainian Tomlinson. UnderGary Patterson, the Horned Frogs have developed into a perennial top-10 contender, and aRose Bowl winner in 2011.[115] Notable players includeSammy Baugh,Davey O'Brien,Bob Lilly, LaDainian Tomlinson,Jerry Hughes, andAndy Dalton. The Horned Frogs, along with their rivals and fellow non-AQ leadersthe Boise State Broncos and University of Utah Utes, were deemed the quintessential"BCS Busters", having appeared in both the Fiesta and Rose bowls. Their "BCS Buster" role ended in 2012 when they joined theBig 12 athletic conference in all sports.
Fort Worth hosts an important professional men's golf tournament every May at theColonial Country Club. The Colonial Invitational Golf Tournament, titled for sponsorship reasons as theCharles Schwab Challenge since 2019, is one of the more prestigious and historical events of the tour calendar. The Colonial Country Club was the home course of golfing legendBen Hogan, who was from Fort Worth.[117]
Kaz Grala pitting at Texas Motor Speedway, 2018Team calf-roping at a rodeo located in Fort Worth at the Stockyards
Fort Worth is home toTexas Motor Speedway, also known as "The Great American Speedway". Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile quad-oval track located in the far northern part of the city inDenton County. The speedway opened in 1997, and currently hosts anIndyCar event and sixNASCAR events among three major race weekends a year.[118][119]
Amateur sports-car racing in the greater Fort Worth area occurs mostly at two purpose-built tracks:MotorSport Ranch andEagles Canyon Raceway. Sanctioning bodies include the Porsche Club of America, the National Auto Sports Association, and theSports Car Club of America.
The annualCowtown Marathon has been held every last weekend in February since 1978. The two-day activities include two 5Ks, a 10K, the half marathon, marathon, and ultra marathon.[120]
In addition to the weekly rodeos held at Cowtown Coliseum in the Stockyards, theFort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo is held within theWill Rogers Memorial Center at the Dickies Arena.[121][122] Dickies Arena also hosts a few TCU basketball games and in the future planned to host college basketball tournaments at the conference and national levels.
Fort Worth has acouncil-manager government, with elections held every two years for amayor, elected at large, and eight council members, elected by district. The mayor is a voting member of the council and represents the city on ceremonial occasions. The council has the power to adoptmunicipal ordinances and resolutions, make proclamations, set the city tax rate, approve the city budget, and appoint the city secretary, city attorney, city auditor, municipal court judges, and members of city boards and commissions. The day-to-day operations of city government are overseen by the city manager, who is also appointed by the council.[123] The current mayor is RepublicanMattie Parker, making Fort Worth the second-largest city in the United States with a Republican mayor.[124]
Fort Worth is home to one of the two locations of theBureau of Engraving and Printing. In 1987, construction on this second facility began. In addition to meeting increased production requirements, a western location was seen to serve as a contingency operation in case of emergencies in theWashington, DC, metropolitan area; as well, costs for transporting currency toFederal Reserve banks inSan Francisco,Dallas, andKansas City would be reduced. Currency production began in December 1990 at the Fort Worth facility;[128] the official dedication took place April 26, 1991. Bills produced here have a small "FW" in one corner.
Since 2012, Tarrant County has shifted about 10 points to the left[132][133][134][135]—even thoughMitt Romney won the county that year by 15.8 points. In contrast, the city of Fort Worth has moved only about 2 points left during the same period. This relative stability in Fort Worth’s political leanings is largely due to its substantial Hispanic population. The Republican Party—particularly under Trump—has made significant inroads with Hispanic voters, capturing 55% of the Latino vote statewide in 2024.[136] As Hispanic voters have trended right, white suburbanites in Fort Worth have moved left, effectively balancing the overall margin. Consequently, Fort Worth’s voting dynamics remain roughly similar to2012, when Romney lost the city by just one point toBarack Obama.[137]
Fort Worth's current mayor isMattie Parker, who has held the position since 2021. Fort Worth is one of the few major cities in the state to have a Republican mayor. Notably, Fort Worth is the second-largest city—after Dallas—to be governed by a Republican mayor.
Location of studios and offices for KXAS (as well as KXTX), in Fort Worth, just south of DFW Airport
Fort Worth and Dallas share the samemedia market. The city's magazine isFort Worth, Texas Magazine, which publishes information about Fort Worth events, social activity, fashion, dining, and culture.[141]
Headquarters of theFort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth has one major daily newspaper,Fort Worth Star-Telegram, founded in 1906 asFort Worth Star. It dominates the western half of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, andThe Dallas Morning News dominates the east.[citation needed] In 2023, the publication's print circulation was 43,342.[142]
KXAS studios and offices (as well as those of co-owned KXTX-TV, and for a time those of radio stations WBAP (AM) and KSCS-FM) were located in this building east of downtown Fort Worth on Barnett Street.
TheFort Worth Weekly is an alternative weekly newspaper for the Fort Worth metropolitan division. The newspaper had an approximate circulation of 47,000 in 2015.[143] TheFort Worth Weekly published and features, among many things, news reporting, cultural event guides, movie reviews, and editorials. Additionally,Fort Worth Business Press is a weekly publication that chronicles news in the Fort Worth business community.
TheFort Worth Report is a daily nonprofit news organization covering local government, business, education and arts in Tarrant County.[144] The nonprofit organization, founded by local business leaders and formerFort Worth Star-Telegram publisher Wes Turner,[145] announced its intentions in February 2021 and officially launched the newsroom in April 2021.[146][147]
TheFort Worth Press was a daily newspaper, published weekday afternoons and on Sundays from 1921 until 1975. It was owned by theE. W. Scripps Company and published under the then-prominent Scripps-Howard Lighthouse logo. The paper reportedly last made money in the early 1950s. Scripps Howard stayed with the paper until mid-1975. Circulation had dwindled to fewer than 30,000 daily, just more than 10% of that of theFort Worth Star Telegram. The nameFort Worth Press was resurrected briefly in a newFort Worth Press paper operated by then-former publisher Bill McAda and briefer still by William Dean Singleton, then-owner of the weeklyAzle (Texas) News, now owner of the Media Central news group. TheFort Worth Press operated from offices and presses at 500 Jones Street in Downtown Fort Worth.[148]
On the AM dial, like in all other markets, political talk radio is prevalent, withWBAP 820,KLIF 570,KSKY 660,KFJZ 870,KRLD 1080 theconservative talk stations serving Fort Worth andKMNY 1360 the soleprogressive talk station serving the city.KFXR 1190 is anews/talk/classic country station.Sports talk can be found onKTCK 1310 ("The Ticket"). WBAP, a 50,000-watt clear-channel station which can be heard over much of the country at night, was a long-successfulcountry music station before converting to its current talk format.
Several religious stations are also on AM in the Dallas/Fort Worth area;KHVN 970 andKGGR 1040 are the localurban gospel stations,KEXB 1440 carries Catholic talk programming fromRelevant Radio, andKKGM 1630 has aSouthern gospel format.
Fort Worth's Spanish-speaking population is served by many stations on AM:
KLNO is a commercial radio station licensed to Fort Worth. Long-time Fort Worth residentMarcos A. Rodriguez operated Dallas-Fort Worth radio stations KLTY and KESS on94.1 FM. Foururban-formatted radio stations,KBFB 97.9,KKDA 104.5,KRNB 105.7, andKZMJ 94.5, can also be heard. A wide variety of commercial formats, mostly music, are on the FM dial in Fort Worth.
Noncommercial stations serve the city fairly well. Three college stations can be heard -KTCU 88.7,KCBI 90.9, andKNTU 88.1, with a variety of programming. Also, the localNPR station isKERA 90.1, along withcommunity radio stationKNON 89.3. Downtown Fort Worth also hosts the Texas Country radio stationKFWR 95.9 The Ranch.
When local radio station KOAI 107.5 FM, nowKMVK, dropped itssmooth jazz format, fans set up smoothjazz1075.com, an internet radio station, to broadcast smooth jazz for disgruntled fans.
Like most cities that grew quickly after World War II, Fort Worth's main mode of transportation is the automobile, but bus transportation viaTrinity Metro is available, as well as an interurban train service to Dallas via theTrinity Railway Express. As of January 10, 2019, train service from Downtown Fort Worth toDallas/Fort Worth International Airport's Terminal B is available via Trinity Metro'sTEXRail service.
"Map showing lines of the Northern Texas Electric Company (Fort Worth)",c. 1907Interurban line between Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas (postcard,circa 1902–1924)
The first streeetcar company in Fort Worth was the Fort Worth Street Railway Company. Its first line began operating in December 1876, and traveled from the courthouse down Main Street to the T&P Depot.[149] By 1890, more than 20 private companies were operating streetcar lines in Fort Worth. The Fort Worth Street Railway Company bought out many of its competitors, and was eventually itself bought out by the Bishop & Sherwin Syndicate in 1901.[150] The new ownership changed the company's name to theNorthern Texas Traction Company, which operated 84 miles of streetcar railways in 1925, and their lines connected downtown Fort Worth to TCU, theNear Southside, Arlington Heights, Lake Como, and theStockyards.
At its peak, the electric interurban industry in Texas consisted of almost 500 miles of track, making Texas the second in interurban mileage in all states west of the Mississippi River. Electric interurban railways were prominent in the early 1900s, peaking in the 1910s and fading until all electric interurban railways were abandoned by 1948. Close to three-fourths of the mileage was in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, running between Fort Worth and Dallas and to other area cities including Cleburne, Denison, Corsicana, and Waco. The line depicted in the associated image was the second to be constructed in Texas and ran 35 miles between Fort Worth and Dallas.Northern Texas Traction Company built the railway, which was operational from 1902 to 1934.[151]
In 2009, 80.6% of Fort Worth (city) commuters drive to work alone. The 2009mode share for Fort Worth (city) commuters are 11.7% for carpooling, 1.5% for transit, 1.2% for walking, and .1% for cycling.[152] In 2015, the American Community Survey estimated modal shares for Fort Worth (city) commuters of 82% for driving alone, 12% for carpooling, .8% for riding transit, 1.8% for walking, and .3% for cycling.[153] The city of Fort Worth has a lower than average percentage of households without a car. In 2015, 6.1 percent of Fort Worth households lacked a car, and decreased to 4.8 percent in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Fort Worth averaged 1.83 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8.[154]
Fort Worth is served by fourinterstates and threeU.S. highways. It also contains a number of arterial streets in a grid formation.
Interstate highways30,20,35W, and820 all pass through the city limits.
Interstate 820 is aloop of Interstate 20 and serves as abeltway for the city. Interstate 30 and Interstate 20 connect Fort Worth to Arlington,Grand Prairie, and Dallas. Interstate 35W connects Fort Worth withHillsboro to the south and the cities ofDenton andGainesville to the north.
"The T" bus in Ft. Worth, 2016Map of public rail transit in the Fort Worth metro area
Trinity Metro, formerly known as the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, serves Fort Worth with dozens of different bus routes throughout the city, including a downtown bus circulator known as Molly the Trolley. In addition to Fort Worth, Trinity Metro operates buses in the suburbs ofBlue Mound,Forest Hill,River Oaks andSansom Park.[155]
In 2010, Fort Worth won a $25 million Federal Urban Circulator grant to build a streetcar system.[156] In December 2010, though, the city council forfeited the grant by voting to end the streetcar study.[157]
In July 2019, Trinity Metro partnered withVia Transportation to launch an on-demandmicrotransit service called ZIPZONE. ZIPZONE offers shared rides across the Alliance, Mercantile, Southside, and South Tarrant neighborhoods and was designed as a first-and-last mile connection for TEXRail and bus commuters.[158][159][160] Trips are booked from a smartphone app and charge a flat $3 for service as of April 2021. ZIPZONE rides are also included with multi-ride Trinity Metro local tickets.[161]
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is a major commercial airport located between the major cities of Fort Worth and Dallas. DFW Airport is the world's third-busiest airport based on operations and tenth-busiest airport based on passengers.[163]
Prior to the construction of the DFW Airport, the city was served byGreater Southwest International Airport, which was located just to the south of the new airport. Originally named Amon Carter Field after the publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Greater Southwest opened in 1953 and operated as the primary airport for Fort Worth until 1974. It was then abandoned until the terminal was torn down in 1980. The site of the former airport is now a mixed-use development straddled byTexas State Highway 183 and360. One small section of runway remains north of Highway 183, and serves as the only reminder that a major commercial airport once occupied the site.
Fort Worth is home to these four airports within city limits:
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^abcdCrimmins, M.L., 1943, "The First Line of Army Posts Established in West Texas in 1849," Abilene: West Texas Historical Association, Vol. XIX, pp. 121–127
^"Fort Worth, TX". Texas State Historical Association. Archived fromthe original on October 9, 2014. RetrievedJune 9, 2015.
^Image of E. S. Terrell with note: "E. S. Terrell. Born May 24, 1812, in Murry [sic] County, Tenn. The first white man to settle in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1849. His wife was Lou Preveler. They had seven children. In 1869, the Terrells took up residence in Young County, Texas, where he died Nov 1, 1905. He is buried at True, Texas." Image on display in historical collection at Fort Belknap, Newcastle, Texas. Viewed November 13, 2008.
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^Hornung, Chuck (2016).Wyatt Earp's cow-boy campaign : the bloody restoration of law and order along the Mexican border, 1882. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 12.
^Fort Worth Daily Democrat, April 10, 1878, April 18, 1879, July 18, 1881. Oliver Knight,Fort Worth, Outpost on the Trinity (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1953). Leonard Sanders,How Fort Worth Became the Texasmost City (Fort Worth: Amon Carter Museum, 1973). Richard F. Selcer,Hell's Half Acre: The Life and Legend of a Red Light District (Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 1991). F. Stanley,Stanley F. L. Crocchiola, Jim Courtright (Denver: World, 1957).
^"Diocese History".Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth.Archived from the original on July 9, 2023. RetrievedJune 23, 2023.Today the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth has grown from 60,000 Catholics in 1969 to 1,200,000 Catholics. The Diocese comprises 92 Parishes and 17 Schools, with 132 Priests (67 are Diocesan), 106 Permanent Deacons and 48 Sisters.
^"Churches".Texas Baptists.Archived from the original on June 23, 2023. RetrievedJune 23, 2023.
^"Find a Church".Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.Archived from the original on June 23, 2023. RetrievedJune 23, 2023.
^*"2020 census - school district reference map: Tarrant County, TX"(PDF).U.S. Census Bureau.Archived(PDF) from the original on September 2, 2021. RetrievedJune 27, 2022. - Shows portions of Fort Worth in: FWISD, and Arlington, Azle, Birdville, Burleson, Castleberry, Crowley, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw, Everman, H-E-B, Keller, Kennedale, Lake Worth, Northwest, and White Settlement.
^"MAYBORN, WARD CARLTON". The Handbook of Texas Online.Archived from the original on January 12, 2012. RetrievedFebruary 13, 2012.
^Knight, Oliver (1990).Fort Worth: Outpost on the Trinity. Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press. p. 85.ISBN0-87565-077-5.
^Knight, Oliver (1990).Fort Worth: Outpost on the Trinity. Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press. p. 133.ISBN0-87565-077-5.
^Robert A. Rieder, "Electric Interurban Railways," Handbook of Texas Online[1]Archived July 19, 2018, at theWayback Machine, accessed March 23, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
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Warren H. Plasters,A History of Amusements in Fort Worth from the Beginning to 1879 (M.A. thesis, Texas Christian University, 1947).
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Pinkney, Kathryn Currie (2003).From stockyards to defense plants, the transformation of a city: Fort Worth, Texas, and World War II. Ph.D. thesis, University of North Texas.
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