Taking Stock at the Stockyards |
The cattle, horse, and mule pens sit behind the Livestock Exchange Building. |
A little piggy is commemorated in the tunnels of the Stockyards Station, where sheep and swine were funneled underground to the Armour and Swift plants. |
An old guard tower stands sentinel over the now-silent Swift Packing Plant. |
Weigh station on the north side of the Stockyards. This structure may also go away if the developers receive permission to tear it down and build hotels, apartments, and other things instead. |
The Swift Plant's days are numbered, as a California corporation has bought rights to develop this property. |
Beneath East Exchange Street is a river walk. Not everyone realizes this place is here; it's a great area to escape the tourist crowds. |
Entrance to the sheep/pig "subway" on the southeast side of the Stockyards. |
The best burgers at the Stockyards are inside Miss Molly's Bed and Breakfast - the Star Cafe - on West Exchange Avenue. It's also supposed to be haunted, so there's a good chance you'll get a side order of screams. |
Cattle used to bed down here as they were driven up the trail to Abilene, Kansas. Now, a trail system links downtown Fort Worth to the Stockyards along the Trinity River. |
Isn't the notorious "Hell's Half Acre" inside the Stockyards? No, it's not. Hell's Half Acre - Fort Worth's fabled vice district - was situated in the southeastern portion of Fort Worth, between Lancaster Avenue and 8th Street, where the Convention Center is now located. You can read more about "naughty Tarrant County" if you're so inclined, because the place where the West began sure has a fantastically devious past! |
Update: The National Trust for Historic Preservation has listed the Fort Worth Stockyards as one of the 11 most-endangered historic sites in the U.S. |
Questions or comments? E-mail me: robin@redriverhistorian.com |
Aerial photo, mid-century, of the Fort Worth Stockyards, looking at the northeastern portion. The Livestock Exchange is in the middle, surrounded by cattle and horse pens. The Armour plant and the trains make up the northern edge of the yards. The low buildings on the right housed sheep and goats. (Cattle Raisers Museum) |
The Swift Plant on the southeastern edge of the Fort Worth Stockyards was the site of a number of labor strikes. Its renovated administration building still stands. (North Fort Worth Historical Society). |