Fort Worth tourist information

In 1849, during the closure of the Mexican-American War, Major Ripley Arnold established a fort, named in honor of General William Jenkins Worth near a high bluff where the West Fork and Clear Fork of the Trinity River merge together. The fort was flooded the first year and was moved to the top of the bluff where the courthouse sits now.

The fort was established to protect 19th century settlers from Indian attacks. It grew into a bustling town when it became a stop along the legendary Chisholm Trail, the dusty path where millions of cattle were driven North to market. Fort Worth became the center of the cattle drives, and later, the ranching industry. The heyday of the cattle drives was the wild era of "Hell's Half Acre," an area of town filled with gambling parlors, saloons and dance halls. During the Civil War, the town suffered and the population dwindled.

However, Fort Worth recovered quickly during Reconstruction and once again was a bustling population center. In 1876, the Texas & Pacific Railway connected to Fort Worth and transformed the Fort Worth Stockyards into a premier livestock center. When oil began to gush in West Texas, Fort Worth was at the center of the wheeling and dealing. In 2000, a tornado of F-2 classification smashed through downtown, tearing many buildings, including the Bank One tower, into shreds and scrap metal. The Bank One tower has been renovated and sold, most of which sold as condominiums.