Lost Fort Worth

by Mike Nichols

Overview

From the humble beginnings of a frontier army camp, Fort Worth transformed into a city as cattle drives, railroads, oil and national defense drove its economy. During the tremendous growth, the landscape and cultural imprint of the city changed drastically, and much of Cowtown was lost to history. Witness the birth of western swing music and the death of a cloud dancer. See mansions of the well-heeled and saloons of the well-armed. Meet two gunfighters, one flamboyant preacher, one serial killer and one very short subway carrying passengers back in time to discover more of Fort Worth. Author Mike Nichols presents a colorful history tour from the North Side to the South Side's Battle of Buttermilk Junction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626192355
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	02/04/2014
Series:	Lost
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	526,150
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Mike Nichols was born on the North Side three blocks from the stockyards, grew up on the East Side and now lives in southwest Fort Worth. He worked for twenty-three years as a reporter, copy editor, columnist and travel writer for the hometown newspaper, the "Star-Telegram." He is the author of "Balaam Gimble's Gumption" and "Live from the Boneyard" and blogs about Fort Worth at www.hometownbyhandlebar.com.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

Introduction 11

Part I A Call to Arms

The Fort: Where the West Began 15

Camp Bowie: Call It "Camp Quick" 19

Camp Taliaferro: The Wild Blue Yonder 22

Helium Plant: Now This Was a Filling Station 26

Part II On a Roll

Railroads: Along Came a Spider 31

Streetcars and the Interurban: "All Aboard" 39

Trolley Parks: Day-Trippers' Delight 43

M&O Subway: Cowtown Underground 49

Just Call Cowtown "Ford Worth" 52

Part III Where Affluence Hung Its Silk Hat

Samuels Avenue: First and, for a While, Foremost 55

Quality Hill: Cattle Barons and Bankers 60

Part IV Teaching and Preaching

Fort Worth University: Why "College Avenue"? 67

Fort Worth High: First Home of the Purple and White 69

First Baptist Church: Limelight and Brimstone 71

Part V Edifice Wrecks 75

St. Joseph Hospital: Tycoons, Engineers and Sisters of Charity 75

Ethel Ransom Memorial Hospital: "First-Class Service" 77

Texas Brewing Company: Very Near Beer 78

The Hotel Block: "Deathly Perfume" and a Golden Goddess 80

St. Elmo Hotel: At the Corner of "What" and "If" 85

Part VI Diversions

White Elephant Saloon: Belly Up to the Forty-Foot Bar 89

Hell's Half Acre: Sodom on the Trinity 93

Jacksboro Highway: Highway to Hell 97

Spring Palace Exhibition: A Blaze of Glory 106

Casa Mañana: Out-Dallasing Dallas 109

The Opera House: Culture Arrives by Stage 112

The Nat: Home of the Electric Bath 113

Crystal Springs: Where the Music Flowed 115

Part VII History on the Hoof

Stockyards and Packing Plants: "Chicago of the Southwest" 119

The Eitelmans: Men of Steel 123

Part VIII Entrepreneurs

Four Oaks: When History Grew on Trees 125

Sanger Brothers: "Forward with Texas since 1857" 128

Randol Mill: Wheels of Progress 131

Max Mehl: The Midas of Pocket Change 132

Radio Active: There's No Place Like Ohm 135

Poly Pop: A Toast to the Ghost of Paul Hollis 138

The Italian Inn: When Heresy Became Heritage 140

Bibliography 145

Index 149

About the Author 155