Fort Worth, Texas
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Fort Worth is the sixth-largest city in the state of Texas, located about 30 miles west of Dallas on the West Fork Trinity River and forming part of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 534,694. It is the county seat of Tarrant County. The area codes are 817 and 682.
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History
Fort Worth was founded as a military camp in 1849, named after General William Jenkins Worth, during the closure of the Mexican-American War. It was established to protect 19th century settlers from Indian attacks. The fort then became 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 hey day of the cattle drives was the wild era of "Hell's Half Acre," (http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/HH/hph1.html) an area of town filled with gambling parlors, saloons, and dance halls. Later, the railroad transformed the Fort Worth Stockyards (http://www.fortworthstockyards.org/) into a premier livestock center. When oil began to gush in West Texas, Fort Worth was at the center of the wheeling and dealing.
Fort Worth is portrayed as more old-fashioned and laid-back than Dallas. Known as "Cowtown" for its rough-and-rowdy roots, Fort Worth still celebrates its colorful Western heritage today.
Attractions
The Fort Worth Cultural District is home to several unique museums.
- The Modern (http://themodern.org/) (formerly the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth), founded in 1892, is the oldest art museum in Texas. Its permanent collection consists of some 2,600 works of post-war art. In 2002, the museum moved into a new home designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando.
- The Kimbell Art Museum houses works from antiquity to the 20th century. Artists represented in its holdings include Caravaggio, Fra Angelico, Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, El Greco, and Rembrandt. The museum's home was designed by American architect Louis Kahn.
- The Amon Carter Museum (http://www.cartermuseum.org/) focuses on 19th and 20th century American artists. It houses an extensive collection of works by Western artists Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, as well as an impressive collection of 30,000 exhibition-quality photographs. It also includes works by Alexander Calder, Thomas Cole, Stuart Davis, Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, Georgia O'Keeffe, John Singer Sargent, and Alfred Stieglitz. American architect Philip Johnson designed the museum's home, including its expansion.
- The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame (http://www.cowgirl.net/) is the only museum in the world that is solely dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have demonstrated extraordinary courage and pioneer spirit in their trail blazing efforts.
Many large buildings in the city are accompanied by Victorian-style structures. Fort Worth's downtown has the Sundance Square (http://www.sundancesquare.com/), named after the Sundance Kid. The Sundance Square is a 16-block entertainment center for the city. The Square has buildings with tall windows, as well as brick-paved streets and sidewalks, and landscaping that many consider to be very delightful. Many restaurants, nightclubs, boutiques, museums, live theatres, and art galleries are in the Square.
The Fort Worth Stockyards Historic District is a taste of the old west and the Chisholm Trail at the site of the historic cattle drives and rail access. The District is filled with restaurants, clubs, gift shops and attractions such as daily longhorn cattle drives through the streets, historic reenactments, the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame (http://www.texascowboyhalloffame.com/) and Billy Bob's (http://www.billybobstexas.com/), the world's largest country and western music venue.
The Tandy Center Subway, based in the Tandy Center, operated in Fort Worth from 1963 to 2002. The 0.7-mile long subway was the only privately operated subway in the United States.
Economy
Alcon, American Airlines, Americredit, Bombay Company, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Carter & Burgess, Pier 1 Imports, Freese and Nichols Inc (http://www.freese.com), Quicksilver Resources, Radio Shack, and XTO Energy are headquartered in Fort Worth. FUNimation is headquartered in nearby North Richland Hills.
Other major employers include Bell Helicopter Textron, Lockheed Martin, and Motorola.
Transportation
- Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport - The largest aviation facility in Texas; Located between Dallas and Fort Worth.
- Alliance Airport
- Meacham Field
- Trinity Railway Express - Rail service to Dallas
- Amtrak - Heartland Flyer & Texas Eagle lines - Fort Worth Texas & Pacific (T&P) Station
- Free trolley to downtown and historic sites
- See also List of Dallas Area Freeways
Education
- Texas Christian University
- Texas Wesleyan University
- University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth
- UT Arlington, Fort Worth Campus
- Tarrant County College (http://www.tccd.edu/)
Sports
Fort Worth is home to the Fort Worth Cats, a minor league baseball team in the Central Baseball League, and the Fort Worth Brahmas, a minor league hockey team in the Central Hockey League. An expansion NBDL franchise will begin play in the 2005-06 season.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 774.1 km² (298.9 mi²). 757.7 km² (292.5 mi²) of it is land and 16.4 km² (6.3 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 2.12% water.
A large storage dam was built on the West Fork Trinity River, 7 miles from the city, with a storage capacity of 30 billion US gallons (110,000,000 m³) of water. The cost of the dam was nearly $1,500,000.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 534,694 people, 195,078 households, and 127,581 families residing in the city. The population density is 705.7/km² (1,827.8/mi²). There are 211,035 housing units at an average density of 278.5/km² (721.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 59.69% White, 20.26% Black or African American, 0.59% Native American, 2.64% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 14.05% from other races, and 2.72% from two or more races. 29.81% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 195,078 households out of which 34.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.8% are married couples living together, 14.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% are non-families. 28.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.67 and the average family size is 3.33.
In the city the population is spread out with 28.3% under the age of 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 18.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 94.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $37,074, and the median income for a family is $42,939. Males have a median income of $31,663 versus $25,917 for females. The per capita income for the city is $18,800. 15.9% of the population and 12.7% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 21.4% of those under the age of 18 and 11.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
For a list of notable people from Fort Worth, see People of Fort Worth.
External links
- City Government website (http://www.fortworthgov.org/)
- Convention & Visitors Bureau (http://www.fortworth.com/)
- FW Chamber of Commerce (http://www.fortworthcoc.org/)
- FW Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (http://www.fwhcc.org/english/)
- FW Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce (http://www.fwmbcc.org/)
- Tarrant County Asian American Chamber of Commerce (http://www.tcaacc.org/)
- Fort Worth Star Telegram (newspaper) (http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/)
- Fort Worth Business Press (http://www.fwbusinesspress.com/)
- Fort Worth Architecture (http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/arch.htm)
Cultural District
- Amon Carter Museum (http://www.cartermuseum.org/)
- Kimbell Art Museum (http://www.kimbellart.org/)
- The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (http://www.themodern.org/)
- Casa Mañana (http://www.casamanana.org/)
- FW Museum of Science and History (http://www.fortworthmuseum.org/)
- National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame (http://www.cowgirl.net/)
- The Fort Worth Opera (http://www.fwopera.org/)
Downtown
- Sundance Square (http://www.sundancesquare.com/)
- DowntownFortWorth.com (http://www.downtownfortworth.com/)
- Bass Performance Hall (http://www.basshall.com/)
- Circle Theatre (http://www.circletheatre.com/)
- Four Day Weekend Improvisational Comedy Troupe (http://www.fourdayweekend.com/)
- Jubilee Theatre (http://www.jubileetheatre.org/)
- Milan Gallery (http://www.milangallery.com/milan.htm)
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| Regions: Arklatex | Big Bend | Central Texas | Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex | East Texas | Edwards Plateau | Houston Metropolitan Area | North Texas | Northeast Texas | Piney Woods | Rio Grande Valley | Texas Hill Country | Texas Panhandle | Llano Estacado | Southeast Texas | South Texas | West Texas | |
| Metropolitan Areas: Abilene | Amarillo | Austin-Round Rock | Beaumont-Port Arthur | Brownsville-Harlingen | College Station-Bryan | Corpus Christi | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | El Paso | Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown | Killeen-Temple | Laredo | Longview-Marshall | Lubbock | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission | Midland | Odessa | San Angelo | San Antonio | Sherman-Denison | Texarkana | Tyler | Victoria | Waco | Wichita Falls | |
| See also: List of Texas counties |
da:Fort Worth, Texas de:Fort Worth ja:フォートワース sv:Fort Worth, Texas zh:沃斯堡