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Fort Worth is a city in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
and the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Tarrant County Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas with a 2020 U.S. census population of 2,110,640, making it the third-most populous county in Texas and the 15th-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is Fort Worth. T ...
, covering nearly into Denton,
Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...
, Parker, and Wise counties. Fort Worth's population was estimated to be 1,008,156 in 2024, making it the 11th-most populous city in the United States. Fort Worth is the city in the
Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States, ...
, after
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, and the metropolitan area is the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and the most populous in Texas. The city of Fort Worth was established in 1849 as an army outpost on a bluff overlooking the Trinity River. Fort Worth has historically been a center of the
Texas Longhorn The Texas Longhorn is an American breed of beef cattle, characterized by its long horns, which can span more than from tip to tip. It derives from cattle brought from the Iberian Peninsula to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors from the ti ...
cattle trade. It still embraces its Western heritage and traditional architecture and design. is the first ship of the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
named after the city. Nearby
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
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. The city is the location of the
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (The Cliburn) is an American piano competition by The Cliburn, first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas and hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation. Initially held at Texas Christian University, the ...
and several museums designed by contemporary architects. The
Kimbell Art Museum The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts an art collection as well as traveling art exhibitions, educational programs and an extensive research library. Its initial artwork came from the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, w ...
was designed by
Louis Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whil ...
, with an additional designs by
Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable works include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), Kansai International Airport in Osaka (1994), the Whitney ...
. The
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (widely referred to as The Modern) is an art museum of post-World War II art in Fort Worth, Texas with a collection of international modern and contemporary art. Founded in 1892, The Modern is located in the c ...
was designed by
Tadao Ando is a self-taught Japanese autodidact architect known for his unique integration of architecture and landscape. Architectural historian Francesco Dal Co described his work as an example of " critical regionalism". Ando received the prestigious ...
. The
Amon Carter Museum of American Art The Amon Carter Museum of American Art (also known as the Carter) is located in Fort Worth, Texas, in the city's cultural district. The museum's permanent collection features paintings, photography, sculpture, and works on paper by leading arti ...
, designed by
Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect who designed modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the postmodern 550 ...
, houses American art. The Sid Richardson Museum, redesigned by David M. Schwarz, has a collection of Western art in the United States emphasizing
Frederic Remington Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 – December 26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in the genre of Western American Art. His works are known for depicting the Western United Sta ...
and Charles Russell. The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History was designed by
Ricardo Legorreta Ricardo Legorreta Vilchis (May 7, 1931 – December 30, 2011) was a Mexican architect. He was a prolific designer of private houses, public buildings and master plans in Mexico, the United States and some other countries. He was awarded the pres ...
of Mexico. In addition, the city of Fort Worth is the location of several universities including,
University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A& ...
,
Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...
, Texas Wesleyan,
University of North Texas Health Science Center The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth – HSC, Health Science Center, Health Science Center at Fort Worth – is an academic health science center in Fort Worth, Texas. It is part of the University of North Texas Sys ...
, and Texas A&M University School of Law. Several multinational corporations, including
Bell Textron Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, United States as well as commercial heli ...
,
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
, and
BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...
, are headquartered in Fort Worth.


History

The
Treaty of Bird's Fort The Treaty of Bird's Fort, or Bird's Fort Treaty was a peace treaty between the Republic of Texas and some of the Indian tribes of Texas and Oklahoma, signed on September 29, 1843. The treaty was intended to end years of hostilities and warfare b ...
between the
Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...
and several Native American tribes was signed in 1843 at Bird's Fort in present-day
Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...
. 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 the President 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. A line of seven army posts was established in 1848–1849 after the Mexican War to protect the settlers of Texas along the western American Frontier and included Fort Worth,
Fort Graham Fort Graham was a pioneer fort established in 1849 by Brevet Major R.A. Arnold (Companies F and I of the Second United States Dragoons) at the site of Jose Maria Village, an Anadaca camp on the western edge of present-day Hill County, Texas. It ...
, Fort Gates,
Fort Croghan Fort Croghan was the third of the first four forts established by the United States government to protect settlers from hostile Indians along the Texas frontier. From its establishment on March 18, 1849, by Lt. C.H. Taylor (Company A, Second Dra ...
, Fort Martin Scott, Fort Lincoln, and
Fort Duncan Fort Duncan was a United States Army base, set up to protect the first U.S. settlement on the Rio Grande near the current town of Eagle Pass, Texas. History A line of seven army posts was established in 1848–49 after the Mexican War to protec ...
.Crimmins, 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 Originally, 10 forts had been proposed by Major General
William Jenkins Worth William Jenkins Worth (March 1, 1794 – May 7, 1849) was an American officer during the War of 1812, the Second Seminole War, and the Mexican–American War. Early military career Worth was commissioned as a first lieutenant in March 1813, s ...
(1794–1849), who commanded the
Department of Texas The Department of Texas was a military department of the United States Army that existed from 1850 to 1861, and again from 1865 to 1866, from 1870 to 1913 and during the First World War. It was subordinate to the Military Division of the Missouri ...
in 1849. In January 1849, Worth proposed a line of 10 forts to mark the western Texas frontier from Eagle Pass to the confluence of the West Fork and Clear Fork of the Trinity River. One month later, Worth died from
cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
in South Texas. General William S. Harney assumed command of the Department of Texas and ordered Major Ripley A. Arnold (Company F, Second United States Dragoons) 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. Since its establishment, the city of Fort Worth continues to be known as "where the West begins". E. S. Terrell (1812–1905) from Tennessee claimed to be the first resident of Fort Worth. 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. No trace of it remains. As a stop on the legendary
Chisholm Trail The Chisholm Trail ( ) was a stock trail and wagon route used in the post-Civil War era to drive cattle overland from ranches in southern Texas, across the Red River into Indian Territory, and northward to rail stops in Kansas. The trail cons ...
, 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 the
cattle drive Droving is the practice of walking livestock over long distances. It is a type of herding, often associated with cattle, in which case it is a cattle drive (particularly in the US). Droving stock to market—usually on foot and often with the ...
s, and later, the
ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...
ing industry. It was given the nickname of Cowtown. During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, Fort Worth suffered from shortages of money, food, and supplies. The population dropped as low as 175, but began to recover during
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
. 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, the '' Dallas 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 outside of Fort Worth, Cowart said that Fort Worth was so slow that he saw a panther 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. Many businesses and organizations continue to use Panther in their name. A panther is set at the top of the police department badges. 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. In 1876, the
Texas and Pacific Railway The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (known as the T&P) was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California. However its lines never went we ...
finally was completed to Fort Worth, stimulating a boom and transforming the
Fort Worth Stockyards The Fort Worth Stockyards is a historic district that is located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, north of the central business district. A portion encompassing much of the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as F ...
into a premier center for the cattle wholesale trade. 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", 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, a
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
-based businessman and main shareholder of the Fort Worth Stockyards Company, is credited with bringing the two biggest
meatpacking The meat-packing industry (also spelled meatpacking industry or meat packing industry) handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Poultry is generally n ...
firms at the time,
Armour Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, e ...
and
Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...
, to the stockyards. 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 the
Chisholm Trail The Chisholm Trail ( ) was a stock trail and wagon route used in the post-Civil War era to drive cattle overland from ranches in southern Texas, across the Red River into Indian Territory, and northward to rail stops in Kansas. The trail cons ...
from Fort Worth north to
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
. 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 of
Dodge City Dodge City is a city in and the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. It was named after nearby Fort Dodge, which was named in honor of Grenville Dodge. The city ...
(the northern terminus of the Chisholm Trail), giving Fort Worth the nickname of the "Paris of the Plains". 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. Local citizens became alarmed about the activities, electing Timothy Isaiah "Longhair Jim" Courtright in 1876 as
city marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated of ...
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 the Sam 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. Despite crusading mayors such as H.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" by
Bat Masterson Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the late 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was bo ...
,
Doc Holliday John Henry Holliday (August 14, 1851 – November 8, 1887), better known as Doc Holliday, was an American dentistry, dentist, gambling, gambler, and gunfighter who was a close friend and associate of Sheriff, lawman Wyatt Earp. Holliday is b ...
, and the
Earp brothers Nicholas Porter Earp (September 6, 1813 – February 12, 1907) was the father of well-known Western lawmen Virgil, Wyatt, and Morgan, and their lesser-known brothers James, Newton and Warren Earp. He was a justice of the peace, a farmer, ...
(Wyatt, Morgan, and Virgil).
James Earp James Cooksey Earp (June 28, 1841 – January 25, 1926) was a lesser known older brother of Old West lawman Virgil Earp and lawman/gambler Wyatt Earp. Unlike his brothers, he was a saloon-keeper and was not present at the Gunfight at the O.K. ...
, 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. Reforming citizens objected to the
dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing, but usually refers to a specific type of twentieth-century venue, with dance clubs (nightclubs) becoming more popular towards the end of the century. The palais de danse was a term ap ...
s, 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 by
Luke Short Luke Lamar Short (January22, 1854September8, 1893) was an American Old West gunfighter, cowboy, U.S. Army scout, dispatch rider, gambler, boxing promoter, and saloon owner. He survived numerous gunfights, the most famous of which were aga ...
, who claimed he was "King of Fort Worth Gamblers". 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 first
prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
campaign in Texas was mounted in Fort Worth in 1889, allowing other business and residential development in the area. Another change was the influx of Black and African American residents. Excluded by state
segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of human ...
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 broader
Progressive Era The Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) was a period in the United States characterized by multiple social and political reform efforts. Reformers during this era, known as progressivism in the United States, Progressives, sought to address iss ...
package of reforms. In 1911, the Reverend J. Frank Norris launched an offensive against racetrack gambling in the ''Baptist 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, the
arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...
ists succeeded in burning down the
parsonage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, pa ...
. In a sensational trial lasting a month, Norris was charged with
perjury Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...
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 a major military training camp, joined forces with the Baptist preacher to bring down the final curtain on the Acre. 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 I
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
training installation) was located on the outskirts of Fort Worth in 1917, the military used
martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...
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 "bury
John Barleycorn "John Barleycorn" is an England, English and Scotland, Scottish folk song. The song's protagonist is John Barleycorn, a personification of barley and of the beer made from it. In the song, he suffers indignities, attacks, and death that corres ...
" 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. 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 black
strikebreakers A strikebreaker (sometimes pejoratively called a scab, blackleg, bootlicker, blackguard or knobstick) is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers may be current employees ( union members or not), or new hires to keep the org ...
. During union protests, strikebreaker African-American Fred 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. On November 21, 1963, President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
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 in
West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the desert climate, arid and semiarid climate, semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Texas, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Texa ...
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 vast
natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
reserves in the
Barnett Shale The Barnett Shale is a geological formation located in the Bend Arch-Fort Worth Basin. It consists of sedimentary rocks dating from the Mississippian period (354–323 million years ago) in Texas. The formation underlies the city of Fort Worth ...
available directly under the city, 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. On March 28, 2000, at 6:15 pm, an F3 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 upscale
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...
s and officially renamed "The Tower." This was the first major
tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
to strike Fort Worth proper since the early 1940s. From 2000 to 2006, Fort Worth was the fastest-growing large city in the United States; it was voted one of "America's Most Livable Communities". In addition to the reversal migration, many African Americans have been relocating to Fort Worth for its affordable cost of living and job opportunities. In 2020, Fort Worth's mayor announced the city's continued growth to 20.78%. The U.S. Census Bureau also noted the city's beginning of greater diversification from 2014–2018.


Geography

Fort Worth is located in
North Texas North Texas is a term used primarily by residents of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to refer to a geographic area of Texas, generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, Texas, Abilene, west of Paris, Texas, Par ...
, and has a generally humid subtropical climate. It is part of the
Cross Timbers The term Cross Timbers, also known as Ecoregion 29, Central Oklahoma/Texas Plains, is used to describe a strip of land in the United States that runs from southeastern Kansas across Central Oklahoma to Central Texas. Made up of a mix of prairi ...
region; 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 the
Grand Prairie Grand Prairie is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties with a small part extending into Johnson county. It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It had a popul ...
ecoregion within the Cross Timbers. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which are land and are covered by water. It is a principal city in the
Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States, ...
, and the second largest by population. The city of Fort Worth is not entirely contiguous and has several enclaves, practical enclaves, semi-enclaves, and cities that are otherwise completely or nearly surrounded by it, including: Westworth Village, River Oaks,
Saginaw Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of ...
, Blue Mound, Benbrook, Everman, Forest Hill, Edgecliff Village, Westover Hills, White Settlement, Sansom Park, Lake Worth, Lakeside, and
Haslet Haslet is a pork meatloaf with herbs, originally from Lincolnshire. The British English word is derived from the Old French meaning ''entrails''. In Lincolnshire, haslet (pronounced '/ˈhæslɪt/' locally) is typically made from stale white br ...
. Fort Worth contains over 1,000 natural-gas wells (December 2009 count) tapping the Barnett Shale. Each well site is a bare patch of gravel 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. The lake formed by this dam is known as Lake Worth.


Neighborhoods


Downtown

Downtown Fort Worth Downtown Fort Worth is the central business district of Fort Worth, Texas, United States. Most of Fort Worth's tallest buildings and skyscrapers are located downtown. Attractions Sundance Square Sundance Square began as an effort by Sid Bass ...
consists of numerous districts comprising commercial and retail, residential, and entertainment. Among them,
Sundance Square Sundance Square is the name of a 35-block commercial, residential, entertainment and retail district in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. Named after the Sundance Kid in western folklore, it is a popular place for nightlife and entertainment in Fort Wo ...
is a mixed-use district and popular for nightlife and entertainment. The
Bass Performance Hall The Bass Performance Hall (also known as Bass Hall) is a performing arts venue, located in Fort Worth, Texas. Overview The hall was first suggested by pianist Van Cliburn to philanthropist Nancy Lee Bass and her husband, Perry Richardson Bass. ...
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 Interstate 30 (I-30) is a major Interstate Highway in the southern states of Texas and Arkansas in the United States. I-30 travels 366.76 miles from Interstate 20, I-20 west of Fort Worth, Texas, northeast via Dallas, and Texarkana, Texas ...
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.


Stockyards

The
Fort Worth Stockyards The Fort Worth Stockyards is a historic district that is located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, north of the central business district. A portion encompassing much of the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as F ...
are a National Historic District. The Stockyards was once among the largest livestock markets in the United States and played a vital role in the city's early growth. Today the neighborhood is characterized by its many bars, restaurants, and notable country music venues such as Billy Bob's. Fort Worth celebrity chef Tim Love of ''
Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...
'' and ''
Top Chef Masters ''Top Chef Masters'' is an American reality competition series that aired on the cable television network Bravo (American TV network), Bravo, and premiered June 10, 2009. It is a spinoff (media), spinoff of Bravo's hit show ''Top Chef''. In the ...
'' has operated multiple restaurants in the neighborhood. There is a mall at the Stockyards Station and a train via Grapevine Vintage Railroad, that connects to downtown
Grapevine ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, bot ...
.
Cowtown Coliseum Cowtown Coliseum is a 2,400-seat arena in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, that hosts weekly rodeos. It also occasionally hosts concerts and local team sporting events. The venue was built in 1908 and was originally known as Grand Coliseum. Part ...
hosts a weekly rodeo and also has the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. The world's largest honky tonk is also in the Stockyards at Billy Bob's. At the Fort Worth Stockyards, Fort Worth is the only major city that hosts a daily cattle drive.


Tanglewood

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...
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. 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.


Architecture

Downtown Fort Worth, with its unique rustic architecture, is mainly known for its
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
-style buildings. The Tarrant County Courthouse was created in the American Beaux Arts design, which was modeled after the
Texas State Capitol The Texas State Capitol is the capitol and seat of government of the U.S. state of Texas. Located in downtown Austin, Texas, the structure houses the offices and chambers of the Texas Legislature and of the Governor of Texas. Designed in 188 ...
building. Most of the structures around downtown's
Sundance Square Sundance Square is the name of a 35-block commercial, residential, entertainment and retail district in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. Named after the Sundance Kid in western folklore, it is a popular place for nightlife and entertainment in Fort Wo ...
have preserved their early 20th-century
façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...
s. Multiple blocks surrounding Sundance Square are illuminated at night in Christmas lights year-round.


Climate

Fort Worth has a
humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(Cfa) according to the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system, and is within USDA
hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...
8a. 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 , and overnight low temperatures average , giving an average temperature of . The coldest month of the year is January, when the average high temperature is and low temperatures average . The average temperature in January is . The highest temperature ever recorded in Fort Worth is , on June 26, 1980, during the Great 1980 Heat Wave, and June 27, 1980. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Fort Worth was on February 12, 1899. Because of its position in North Texas, Fort Worth is very susceptible to
supercell thunderstorm A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone, a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms (sup ...
s, which produce large hail and can produce
tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
es. The average annual precipitation for Fort Worth is . The wettest month of the year is May, when an average of of precipitation falls. The driest month of the year is January, when only of precipitation falls. The driest calendar year since records began has been 1921 with and the wettest 2015 with . The wettest calendar month has been April 1922 with , including on April 25. The average annual snowfall in Fort Worth is . The most snowfall in one month has been in February 1978, and the most in a season in 1977/1978. The
National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...
office, which serves the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, is based in northeastern Fort Worth.


Demographics

Fort Worth is the most populous city in
Tarrant County Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas with a 2020 U.S. census population of 2,110,640, making it the third-most populous county in Texas and the 15th-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is Fort Worth. T ...
, and second-most populous community within the
Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States, ...
. Its metropolitan statistical area encompasses one-quarter of the population of Texas, and is the largest in the Southern U.S. and
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
followed by the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. At the
American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...
's 2018 census estimates, the city of Fort Worth had a population near 900,000 residents. In 2019, it grew to an estimated 909,585. At the 2020 United States census, Fort Worth had a population of 918,915 and 2022 census estimates numbered approximately 956,709 residents. There were 337,072 housing units, 308,188 households, and 208,389 families at the 2018 census estimates. 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%. The
median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...
in 2018 was $58,448 and the
mean income The national average salary (or national average wage) is the mean salary for the working population of a nation. It is calculated by summing all the annual salaries of all persons in work (surveyed) and dividing the total by the number of worke ...
was $81,165. The city had a per capita income of $29,010. Roughly 15.6% of Fort Worthers lived at or below the poverty line. In 2010's American Community Survey census estimates there were 291,676 housing units, 261,042 households, and 174,909 families. 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. An estimated 21.4% of the population lived at or below the poverty line.


Race and ethnicity

At the 2010 U.S. census, the racial composition of Fort Worth's population was 61.1%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
(
non-Hispanic whites Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...
: 41.7%), 18.9% Black or African American, 0.6% Native American, 3.7%
Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...
, 0.1%
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander Asian/Pacific American (APA) or Asian/Pacific Islander (API) or Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) or Asian American and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) is a term sometimes used in the United States when including both Asian A ...
, 34.1% Hispanic or Latino (of any race), and 3.1% of two or more races. In 2018, 38.2% of Fort Worth was non-Hispanic white, 18.6% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian or Alaska Native, 4.8% Asian American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.1% from two or more races, and 35.5% Hispanic or Latino (of any race), marking an era of diversification in the city limits. A study determined Fort Worth as one of the most diverse cities in the United States in 2019. For contrast, in 1970, the
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...
reported Fort Worth's population as 72% non-Hispanic white, 19.9% African American, and 7.9% Hispanic or Latino. By the 2020 census, 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. In 2020, a total of 31,485 residents were of two or more races.


Religion

Located within the
Bible Belt The Bible Belt is a region of the Southern United States and the Midwestern state of Missouri (which also has significant Southern influence), where evangelical Protestantism exerts a strong social and cultural influence. The region has been de ...
,
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
is the largest collective religious group in Fort Worth proper, and the Metroplex. Both Dallas and Dallas County, and Fort Worth and Tarrant County have a plurality of
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
residents. 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. The oldest continuously operating church in Fort Worth is First Christian Church, founded in 1855. Other historical churches continuing operation in the city include St. Patrick Cathedral (founded 1888), Saint James Second Street Baptist Church (founded 1895), Tabernacle Baptist Church (built 1923), St. Mary of the Assumption Church (built 1924), Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church and Parsonage (built 1929 and 1911), and Morning Chapel C.M.E. Church (built 1934). According to the
Association of Religion Data Archives The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. One of the primary goals of the archive is to democratize access to academic information on religion by making t ...
in 2020, Tarrant County's Catholic community numbered 359,705, and was the Fort Worth metropolitan division's single largest Christian denomination or tradition with 378,490 adherents. According to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, there are approximately 1,200,000 Catholics altogether as of 2023. Among other Christian bodies embodying
catholicity Catholicity (from , via ) is a concept pertaining to beliefs and practices that are widely accepted by numerous Christian denominations, most notably by those Christian denominations that describe themselves as ''catholic'' in accordance with t ...
, the Association of Religion Data Archives reported the
Coptic Orthodox Church The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the See of Alexandria is the pope of Alexandria on the Holy Apo ...
was the largest
Eastern Christian Eastern Christianity comprises Christianity, Christian traditions and Christian denomination, church families that originally developed during Classical antiquity, classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations fu ...
group, followed by the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOArch; ), headquartered in New York City, is an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Its current Primate (bishop), primate is Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. The Greek Orthodox ...
and
Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In ...
, the
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA), often referred to in North America as simply the Antiochian Archdiocese, is the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch in the United States and Canada. Origina ...
, and
Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is one of the Oriental Orthodox Churches with its headquarters in Asmara, Eritrea. It was given autocephaly by Shenouda III of Alexandria, pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church, after Eritrea gained its in ...
numbering 6,216 altogether. Home to a large
Protestant Christian Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible sourc ...
community,
Southern Baptists The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Ch ...
were the second-largest single Christian denomination for Fort Worth's metropolitan division in 2020, with 347,771 adherents. Southern Baptists have been divided between the more traditionalist and conservative Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, and the theologically moderate
Baptist General Convention of Texas The Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT), more commonly known as the Texas Baptists, is a Baptist Christian denomination in the U.S. state of Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Baptist World Alliance. Tex ...
; according to the Baptist General Convention of Texas, there are 167 churches within the vicinity of Fort Worth proper as of 2023. The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention listed 117 churches in 2023. Other prominent Baptist denominations such as the National Missionary Baptist Convention, National Baptist Convention, National Baptist Convention of America,
Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship The Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship (FGBCF) or Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International (FGBCFI) is a predominantly African-American, Charismatic Baptist denomination established by Bishop Paul Sylvester Morton—a Gospel singe ...
,
American Baptist Association The American Baptist Association (ABA) is a Baptist denomination in the United States with offices, a book store, and a publishing house in Texarkana. One of the principal founders was the Reverend Ben M. Bogard (1868–1951), a pastor of An ...
, and the
National Association of Free Will Baptists } The National Association of Free Will Baptists (NAFWB) is a national body of Free Will Baptist churches in the United States and Canada, organized on November 5, 1935 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee. The Association traces its hist ...
collectively numbered 51,261 at the 2020 study. Non- and inter-denominational churches dominated Fort Worth's religious landscape as the third-largest group of Christians. Having more than 289,554 adherents, non/inter-denominational Christians represented the growing trend of ecumenism within the United States. Methodists were the fourth-largest Christian group with more than 100,000 adherents of the
United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...
spread throughout Fort Worth's metropolitan division. The
African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, connexional polity. It ...
,
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (C.M.E.C.) is a Methodist denomination that is based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology. Though historically a part of the black church, the Christian Methodist Episcopal church ...
,
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or the AME Zion Church (AMEZ) is a historically African-American Christian denomination based in the United States. It was officially formed in 1821 in New York City, but operated for a number of y ...
, and
Free Methodist Church The Free Methodist Church (FMC) is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement, based in the United States. It is Evangelicalism, evangelical in nature and is Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian in theology. The Free Met ...
also formed a substantial portion of the area's Methodist population.
Pentecostals Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term ''Pentecostal'' is derived ...
, descended from the
Wesleyan-Holiness movement The Holiness movement is a Christian movement that emerged chiefly within 19th-century Methodism, and to a lesser extent influenced other traditions such as Quakerism, Anabaptism, and Restorationism. Churches aligned with the holiness movement ...
of Methodists, formed the fifth-largest Christian constituency and primarily divided between the
Assemblies of God USA The Assemblies of God USA (AG), officially The General Council of the Assemblies of God, is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in the United States and the U.S. branch of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, the world's largest Pentecostal ...
and
Church of God in Christ The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is an international Christian perfection#Holiness Pentecostalism, Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and a large Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi ...
. Among Fort Worther's non-Christian community,
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
and
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
were the second- and third-largest religious communities. 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. Religions including
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
and Baha'i had a minuscule presence in the Fort Worth area according to the 2020 study, and
Christendom The terms Christendom or Christian world commonly refer to the global Christian community, Christian states, Christian-majority countries or countries in which Christianity is dominant or prevails.SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christen ...
remained more prevalent than in the Dallas metropolitan division.


Economy

At its inception, Fort Worth relied on cattle drives that traveled the
Chisholm Trail The Chisholm Trail ( ) was a stock trail and wagon route used in the post-Civil War era to drive cattle overland from ranches in southern Texas, across the Red River into Indian Territory, and northward to rail stops in Kansas. The trail cons ...
. Millions of cattle were driven north to market along this trail, and Fort Worth became the center of cattle drives, and later, ranching until the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. During the American Civil War, Fort Worth suffered shortages causing its population to decline. It recovered during the
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
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. Since the late 20th century several major companies have been headquartered in Fort Worth. These include
American Airlines Group American Airlines Group Inc. is an American publicly traded airline holding company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It was formed on December 9, 2013, by the merger of AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, and US Airway ...
(and subsidiaries
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
and
Envoy Air Envoy Air Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered in Irving, Texas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group member American Airlines to sta ...
), the
John Peter Smith Hospital John Peter Smith Hospital (also known as JPS Hospital) is a Trauma center, Level 1 Trauma Center, 573-bed public hospital located in Fort Worth, Texas that provides Inpatient care, inpatient, Ambulatory care, outpatient, and Psychiatry, behavioral ...
,
Pier 1 Imports Pier 1 Imports, Inc., is an online retailer and former Fort Worth, Texas-based retail chain specializing in imported home furnishings and decor, particularly furniture, table-top items, decorative accessories, and seasonal decor. It was Public ...
, Chip 1 Exchange,
RadioShack RadioShack (formerly written as Radio Shack) is an American electronics retailer that was established in 1921 as an amateur radio mail-order business. Its parent company was purchased by Tandy Corporation in 1962, which shifted its focus from ma ...
,
Pioneer Corporation , is a Japanese multinational corporation based in Tokyo, that specializes in digital entertainment products. The company was founded by Nozomu Matsumoto on January 1, 1938 in Tokyo as a radio and Loudspeaker, speaker repair shop. Its current pr ...
,
Cash America International FirstCash Holdings, Inc. is an American pawnshop company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas which operates retail pawn stores in the U.S. and Latin America. It is a publicly traded company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. In September 2016, ...
,
GM Financial General Motors Financial Company, Inc. is the financial services arm of General Motors. The company is a global provider of auto finance, with operations in the United States, Mexico, Latin America, Canada, Europe (which was sold to PSA Groupe a ...
,
Budget Host Budget Host is an American lodging chain. Overview It was founded in 1975 in Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County ...
, the
BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...
, and
Bell Textron Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, United States as well as commercial heli ...
. Companies with a significant presence in the city are
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...
,
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
,
Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...
,
GE Transportation GE Transportation is a division of Wabtec. It was known as GE Rail and owned by General Electric until sold to Wabtec on February 25, 2019. The organization manufactures equipment for the railroad, marine, mining, drilling and energy generatio ...
, and Dallas-based telecommunications company
AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
.
Metro by T-Mobile Metro by T-Mobile, formerly known as MetroPCS, and simply known as Metro, is an American prepaid wireless service provider and brand owned by T-Mobile US. It previously operated the fifth largest mobile telecommunications network in the United ...
is also prominent in the city.


Culture

Building on its Frontier Western heritage and a history of strong local arts patronage, Fort Worth promotes itself as the "City of Cowboys and Culture". Fort Worth has the world's first and largest indoor rodeo, world-class museums, a calendar of festivals and a robust local arts scene. The Academy of Western Artists, based in
Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...
,
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
, presents its annual awards in Fort Worth in fields related to the American cowboy, including music, literature, and even chuck wagon cooking. Fort Worth is also the 1931 birthplace of the Official State Music of Texas—
Western Swing Western swing, country jazz or smooth country is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which att ...
, which was created by
Bob Wills James Robert "Bob" Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although Spade C ...
and
Milton Brown Milton Brown (September 8, 1903 – April 18, 1936) was an American band leader and vocalist who co-founded the genre of Western swing. His band was the first to fuse hillbilly hokum, jazz, and pop together into a unique, distinctly American ...
and their
Light Crust Doughboys The Light Crust Doughboys is an American Western swing band from Texas, United States, organized in 1931 by the Burrus Mill and Elevator Company in Saginaw, Texas. The band achieved its peak popularity in the few years leading up to World War II. ...
band in a ramshackle dancehall 4 miles west of downtown at the Crystal Springs Dance Pavilion.


Arts and sciences

;Theatre * Amphibian Stage Productions *
Bass Performance Hall The Bass Performance Hall (also known as Bass Hall) is a performing arts venue, located in Fort Worth, Texas. Overview The hall was first suggested by pianist Van Cliburn to philanthropist Nancy Lee Bass and her husband, Perry Richardson Bass. ...
*
Casa Mañana Casa Mañana Theatre (also known as the "House of Tomorrow") is located in the Fort Worth Cultural District, Texas. Originally an outdoor amphitheater, Casa opened in 1936 as part of the official Texas Centennial Celebration. Casa Mañana is a ...
* Circle Theatre * Jubilee Theater * Kids Who Care Inc. * Stage West ;Music * Billy Bob's *
Fort Worth Opera Fort Worth Opera is the oldest continually-performing opera company in the state of Texas and among the oldest in the United States, according to the company. While originally presenting operas one at a time over a fall/winter season, it changed ...
*
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Fort Worth, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall. In addition to its symphonic and pops concert series, the FWSO ...
* Live Eclectic Music (Ridglea Theater) *
Texas Ballet Theater The Texas Ballet Theater was founded by Margo Dean in 1961 as the Fort Worth Ballet Association, in Fort Worth, Texas. At the invitation of Dean, Fernando Schaffenburg was invited to direct the company the following year. It became a fully profes ...
*
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (The Cliburn) is an American piano competition by The Cliburn, first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas and hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation. Initially held at Texas Christian University, the ...
;Museums * Al and Ann Stohlman Museum * American Airline C.R. Smith Museum *
Amon Carter Museum of American Art The Amon Carter Museum of American Art (also known as the Carter) is located in Fort Worth, Texas, in the city's cultural district. The museum's permanent collection features paintings, photography, sculpture, and works on paper by leading arti ...
* Fort Worth Museum of Science and History * Fort Worth Stockyards Museum * John Wayne: An American Experience *
Kimbell Art Museum The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts an art collection as well as traveling art exhibitions, educational programs and an extensive research library. Its initial artwork came from the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, w ...
* Lenora Rolla Heritage Center Museum *
Log Cabin Village The Log Cabin Village is a 19th-century living history museum that provides a glimpse into Texas life in the 1800s. The site features staff members dressed in 19th-century-style attire and historic buildings from north and central Texas. Log C ...
* Military Museum of Fort Worth *
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (widely referred to as The Modern) is an art museum of post-World War II art in Fort Worth, Texas with a collection of international modern and contemporary art. Founded in 1892, The Modern is located in the c ...
*
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is located in Fort Worth, Texas, US. Established in 1975, it is dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage and pioneering fortitude. The museum is an edu ...
*
National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum The National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum, formerly the National Cowboys of Color Museum and Hall of Fame, is a museum and hall of fame in Fort Worth, Texas. History The National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum was founded Fe ...
* Sid Richardson Museum * Texas Civil War Museum *
Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame The Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, is a western, historical museum in Fort Worth, Texas, United States that "honors those men and women who have shown excellence in the business and support of rodeo and the western lifestyle in Texas." The Hall ...


Nature

The Fort Worth Zoo is home to over 7,000 animals. The Fort Worth Botanic Garden and the
Botanical Research Institute of Texas The Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) is a botanical research institute located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1987 for the herbarium and botanical library collections of Lloyd H. Shinners from Southern Met ...
are also in the city. For those interested in hiking, birding, or canoeing, the
Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge The Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge is a nature center located between Lakeside, Tarrant County, Texas, Lakeside and Lake Worth, Texas within Fort Worth, Texas, United States city limits. It consists of prairies, forests, and wetlands. The na ...
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. The Nature Center has a small, genetically pure
bison A bison (: bison) is a large bovine in the genus ''Bison'' (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American ...
herd, and native
prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...
s,
forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
s, and
wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
s. It is one of the largest urban parks of its type in the United States.


Parks

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. The 4.3 acre (1.7 hectare) Fort Worth Water Gardens, designed by noted
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
architects
Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect who designed modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the postmodern 550 ...
and
John Burgee __NOTOC__ John Burgee (born August 28, 1933) is an American architect noted for his contributions to Postmodern architecture. He was a partner of Philip Johnson from 1967 to 1991, creating together the partnership firm Johnson/Burgee Architects ...
, is an
urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...
containing three pools of water and terraced knolls; the Water Gardens are billed as a "cooling oasis in the concrete jungle" of downtown. Heritage Park Plaza is a
Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
-style park that was designed by
Lawrence Halprin Lawrence Halprin (July 1, 1916 – October 25, 2009) was an American landscape architect, designer, and teacher. Beginning his career in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, in 1949, Halprin often collaborated with a local circle of modernist ...
. (88 pages, with maps, plans, and 38 photos from 2010) The plaza design incorporates a set of interconnecting rooms constructed of concrete and activated throughout by flowing water walls, channels, and pools and was added to the US
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on May 10, 2010. There are two off-leash
dog park A dog park is a park for dogs to exercise and play off-leash in a controlled environment under the supervision of their owners. Description Dog parks have varying features, although they typically offer a fence, separate double-gated entry an ...
s located in the city, ZBonz Dog Park and Fort Woof. The park includes an agility course, water fountains, shaded shelters, and waste stations.


Sports

While much of Fort Worth's sports attention is focused on Dallas's professional sports teams, the city has its own athletic identity. In 2021, it was announced that
Austin Bold FC Austin Bold FC (ABFC) was an American professional association football, soccer team located in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2017, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. In 2021, Austin Bold FC announced it would be moving to Fort ...
would relocate to Fort Worth, providing Fort Worth with a
USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...
club. Semi-professionally, the Fort Worth Jaguars play in the North American Floorball League and the North Texas Bulls of the
National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. As of the end of the 2024 season, the league consisted of five teams. A team's typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, but as of the 2022 ...
play at
Cowtown Coliseum Cowtown Coliseum is a 2,400-seat arena in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, that hosts weekly rodeos. It also occasionally hosts concerts and local team sporting events. The venue was built in 1908 and was originally known as Grand Coliseum. Part ...
. There are three amateur soccer clubs in Fort Worth:
Fort Worth Vaqueros FC Fort Worth Vaqueros FC is an American amateur soccer club based in Fort Worth, Texas, which began play in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) in May 2014. The Vaqueros play in the Lone Star Conference of the South Region. The club is based ...
,
Inocentes FC The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is an American for-profit Association football, soccer league that was founded in Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana in Southern California, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout the United State ...
, and Azul City Premier FC; Inocentes and Azul City Premier both play in the
United Premier Soccer League The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is an American for-profit soccer league that was founded in Santa Ana in Southern California, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout the United States, and recently Canada and Mexico. The leagu ...
. The Vaqueros play in the
National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...
. Collegiately,
Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...
's athletic teams are the premier college sports teams for Fort Worth. The
TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competi ...
compete in
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
Division I athletics. The Horned Frog football team produced two national championships in the 1930s and remained a strong competitor in the
Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...
into the 1960s before beginning a long period of underperformance. The revival of the TCU football program began under
Dennis Franchione Dennis Wayne Franchione (born March 28, 1951) is an American former college football coach. He is the former head football coach at Texas State University–San Marcos, Texas State University, a position he held from 1990 to 1991, when the school ...
with the success of running back
LaDainian Tomlinson LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979), nicknamed "LT", is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. After a successful college football career with the T ...
. Under
Gary Patterson Gary Allen Patterson (born February 13, 1960) is an American college football coach and former player. He served as head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU) from 2000 to 2021, compiling a record of 181–79. Patterson led the TCU ...
, the Horned Frogs have developed into a perennial top-10 contender, and a Rose Bowl winner in 2011. Notable players include
Sammy Baugh Samuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American professional football quarterback who played 16 seasons with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the TCU Horne ...
,
Davey O'Brien Robert David O'Brien (June 22, 1917 – November 18, 1977) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagles for two seasons. He played college football for the TCU Horned Frogs, w ...
,
Bob Lilly Robert Lewis Lilly (born July 26, 1939), nicknamed "Mr. Cowboy", is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college footb ...
, LaDainian Tomlinson, Jerry Hughes, and
Andy Dalton Andrew Gregory Dalton (born October 29, 1987) is an American professional football quarterback for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "the Red Rifle", he played college football for the TCU Horned Frogs, wher ...
. The Horned Frogs, along with their rivals and fellow non-AQ leaders the 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 the
Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...
athletic conference in all sports. Nearby
Texas Wesleyan University Texas Wesleyan University is a private Methodist university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was founded in 1890 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The main campus is located in the Polytechnic Heights neighborhood of Fort Worth. Its mascot is ...
competes in the NAIA, and won the 2006 NAIA Div. I Men's Basketball Championship and three-time
National Collegiate Table Tennis Association The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization whose aim is to promote competitive table tennis at the collegiate level in the United States and Canada. As of 2012, 155 universities competed in 28 geographic ...
(NCTTA) team championships (2004–2006). Fort Worth is also home to the NCAA football Lockheed Martin
Armed Forces Bowl The Armed Forces Bowl, formerly the Fort Worth Bowl from 2003 to 2005, is an annual postseason college football bowl game. First played in 2003, the game is normally held at the 45,000-seat Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of Texas Christian ...
. There used to be one professional sports team in Fort Worth proper,
Panther City Lacrosse Club The Panther City Lacrosse Club were a professional box lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League. They played at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas from their inaugural 2021–2022 season until ceasing operations in 2024. History On July 22, ...
of the
National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...
. It was founded in 2020 and played at
Dickies Arena Dickies Arena is a 14,000-seat multipurpose arena, located within the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas. The venue hosted a public ribbon cutting on October 26, 2019. The first event held was a Twenty One Pilots concert on Novemb ...
until it folded in 2024.


Recreation


Colonial National Invitational Golf Tournament

Fort Worth hosts an important professional men's golf tournament every May at the Colonial Country Club. The Colonial Invitational Golf Tournament, titled for sponsorship reasons as the Charles 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 legend
Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory, hi ...
, who was from Fort Worth.


Motor racing

Fort Worth is home to
Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway (formerly known as Texas International Raceway from September to December 1996) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. It has hosted various major races since its inaugura ...
, 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 in
Denton County Denton County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 906,422, making it the seventh-most populous county in Texas. The county seat is Denton. The county, which was named for John B. Denton, was esta ...
. The speedway opened in 1997, and currently hosts an
IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...
event and six
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
events among three major race weekends a year. Amateur sports-car racing in the greater Fort Worth area occurs mostly at two purpose-built tracks: MotorSport Ranch and Eagles Canyon Raceway. Sanctioning bodies include the Porsche Club of America, the National Auto Sports Association, and the
Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, HPDE, Time Trial, Road Racing, RoadRally, and Hill Climbs in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs ...
.


Cowtown Marathon

The annual Cowtown 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.


Rodeo

In addition to the weekly rodeos held at Cowtown Coliseum in the Stockyards, the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo is held within the Will Rogers Memorial Center at the Dickies Arena. 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.


Government


City government

Fort Worth has a council-manager government, with elections held every two years for a
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
, 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 adopt
municipal ordinance A local ordinance is a law issued by a local government such as a municipality, county, parish, prefecture, or the like. Hong Kong In Hong Kong, all laws enacted by the territory's Legislative Council remain to be known as ''Ordinances'' () ...
s 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. The current mayor is Republican
Mattie Parker Mattie Parker (born November 9, 1983) is an American politician, businesswoman, and attorney serving as the 45th Mayor of Fort Worth, Texas. She was elected in 2021 after serving as Chief of Staff for the Mayor and the Fort Worth City Council for ...
, making Fort Worth the second-largest city in the United States with a Republican mayor.


City departments

*
Fort Worth Police Department The Fort Worth Police Department (FWPD) is the police department of Fort Worth, Texas, United States. Neil Noakes is the Chief of Police. FWPD is responsible for traffic and general law enforcement within the city limits of Fort Worth. Specialt ...
– provides crime prevention, investigation, and other emergency services * Fort Worth Fire Department – provides fire and emergency services * Fort Worth Library – public library system of the City of Fort Worth


State government


State Board of Education members


Texas State Representatives


Texas State Senators


State facilities

The
Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a Texas state government agency responsible for construction and maintenance of the state's immense Texas state highway system, state highway system and the support of the state's maritime trans ...
operates the Fort Worth District Office in Fort Worth. The North Texas Intermediate Sanction Facility, a privately operated prison facility housing short-term parole violators, was in Fort Worth. It was operated on behalf of the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails ...
. In 2011, the state of Texas decided not to renew its contract with the facility.


Federal government


United States House of Representatives


Federal facilities

Fort Worth is home to one of the two locations of the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is a government agency within the United States Department of the Treasury that designs and produces a variety of security products for the Federal Government of the United States, United States governm ...
. 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 the Washington, DC, metropolitan area; as well, costs for transporting currency to
Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...
banks in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, and
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
would be reduced. Currency production began in December 1990 at the Fort Worth facility; the official dedication took place April 26, 1991. Bills produced here have a small "FW" in one corner. The Eldon B. Mahon United States Courthouse building contains three oil-on-canvas panels on the fourth floor by artist Frank Mechau (commissioned under the
Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by United States Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was ...
's art program). Mechau's paintings, ''The Taking of Sam Bass'', ''Two Texas Rangers'', and ''Flags Over Texas'' were installed in 1940, becoming the only New Deal art commission sponsored in Fort Worth. The courthouse, built in 1933, serves the
United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (in case citations, N.D. Tex.) is a United States district court. Its first judge, Andrew Phelps McCormick, was appointed to the court on April 10, 1879. The court convenes in ...
and was listed in the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 2001. Federal Medical Center, Carswell, a federal prison and health facility for women, is located in the
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth (abbreviated NAS JRB Fort Worth) includes Carswell Field, a military airbase located west of the central business district of Fort Worth, in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. This military ...
. Carswell houses the federal
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...
for female inmates. Federal Medical Center, Ft. Worth, a federal prison and health facility for men, is located across from TCC-South Campus. The
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
,
National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
, and
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
have offices in Fort Worth.


Politics

Since 2012, Tarrant County has shifted about 10 points to the left—even though
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...
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. 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 to
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, when Romney lost the city by just one point to
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
. Fort Worth's current mayor is
Mattie Parker Mattie Parker (born November 9, 1983) is an American politician, businesswoman, and attorney serving as the 45th Mayor of Fort Worth, Texas. She was elected in 2021 after serving as Chief of Staff for the Mayor and the Fort Worth City Council for ...
, 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.


Education


Public libraries

Fort Worth Public Library is the public library system.


Public schools

Most of Fort Worth is served by the Fort Worth Independent School District. Other school districts that serve portions of Fort Worth include: *
Aledo Independent School District Aledo Independent School District is a public school district based in Aledo, Texas (USA). Located in southeastern Parker County, a small portion of the district extends into western Tarrant County. In addition to Aledo, the district also se ...
* Arlington Independent School District (wastewater plant only) *
Azle Independent School District Azle Independent School District is a public school district based in Azle, Texas, United States. The district covers northwestern Tarrant County, northeastern Parker County, and a small portion of southern Wise County. In addition to Azle, ...
* Birdville Independent School District *
Burleson Independent School District Burleson Independent School District is a public school district based in Burleson, Texas ( USA). The district was founded in 1909 by the citizens of Burleson. In addition to Burleson, the district also serves Briaroaks, Cross Timber, Fort ...
* Castleberry Independent School District * Crowley Independent School District *
Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District The Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District is located in the northwest corner of Tarrant County, Texas (United States) and includes of land in Saginaw, Eagle Mountain, Blue Mound and several housing additions in the City of Fo ...
* Everman Independent School District *
Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District (HEB ISD) is a K-12 public school district based in Bedford, Texas ( USA). The district serves the city of Bedford, most of the cities of Euless and Hurst, and small parts of North Richland Hi ...
* Keller Independent School District * Kennedale Independent School District * Lake Worth Independent School District *
Northwest Independent School District Northwest Independent School District (Northwest ISD) is a North Texas public school district with its headquarters in the city of Fort Worth, Texas ( USA). with a Justin postal address. The school district is named for its location in the nort ...
* White Settlement Independent School District The portion of Fort Worth within the Arlington Independent School District contains a wastewater plant. No residential areas are in this portion. Pinnacle Academy of the Arts (K–12) is a state charter school, as are Crosstimbers Academy and High Point Academy.


Private schools

Private schools in Fort Worth include both secular and parochial institutions. * All Saints' Episcopal School (Fort Worth, TX) (PreK–12) * Bethesda Christian School (K–12) * Covenant Classical School (K–12) *
Fort Worth Christian School Fort Worth Christian School is a private Christian preparatory school in North Richland Hills, Texas. Established in 1958, the school serves students in preschool through grade 12. On February 27, 2010, the 43rd President of the United States ...
(K–12) *
Fort Worth Country Day School Fort Worth Country Day (FWCD) is a JK-12 private, independent, coeducational, nondenominational college-preparatory school located on approximately 100 acres in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It is accredited by the Independent Schools Associ ...
(K–12) * Lake Country Christian School (K–12) * Montessori School of Fort Worth (Pre-K–8) *
Nolan Catholic High School Nolan Catholic High School is a private, coeducational, college preparatory school, formerly in the Marianist tradition, and is located in the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas. It serves grades 9-12, has an average student population of 800, and serv ...
(9–12) *
Trinity Valley School Trinity Valley School ("TVS") is a PK-12, co-ed, independent school in Fort Worth, Texas. Trinity Valley School has four main objectives for its students: fine scholarship with its fulfillment at college; the development of wide constructive in ...
(K–12) * Temple Christian School (Pre-K–12) * Hill School of Fort Worth (2–12) * Southwest Christian School (K–12) * St. Paul Lutheran School (K–8) * The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth oversees several Catholic elementary and middle schools.


Institutes of higher education

*
Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...
*
Texas Wesleyan University Texas Wesleyan University is a private Methodist university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was founded in 1890 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The main campus is located in the Polytechnic Heights neighborhood of Fort Worth. Its mascot is ...
*
University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A& ...
– Downtown Fort Worth campus *
University of North Texas Health Science Center The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth – HSC, Health Science Center, Health Science Center at Fort Worth – is an academic health science center in Fort Worth, Texas. It is part of the University of North Texas Sys ...
* TCU School of Medicine * Texas A&M University School of Law *
Tarleton State University Tarleton State University is a Public university, public research university in Stephenville, Texas, United States. It is a founding member of the Texas A&M University System and enrolled over 15,000 students in the fall of 2022. It is Carnegie C ...
– Fort Worth campus *
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1908 and in 2005 was one of the largest seminaries in the wor ...
* Brite Divinity School * Tarrant County College Other institutions: * The Art Institute of Fort Worth * Brightwood College – Fort Worth Campus * Fisher More College * Remington College Fort Worth campus * The Culinary School of Fort Worth * Epic Helicopters Pilot Training Academy


Media

Fort Worth and Dallas share the same
media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...
. The city's magazine is ''Fort Worth, Texas Magazine'', which publishes information about Fort Worth events, social activity, fashion, dining, and culture. Fort Worth has one major daily newspaper, ''
Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Car ...
'', founded in 1906 as ''Fort Worth Star''. It dominates the western half of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and ''
The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...
'' dominates the east. In 2023, the publication's print circulation was 43,342. The '' Fort Worth Weekly'' is an alternative weekly newspaper for the Fort Worth metropolitan division. The newspaper had an approximate circulation of 47,000 in 2015. The ''Fort 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. The ''
Fort Worth Report ''Fort Worth Report'' (FWR) is a nonprofit news media outlet covering local government, business, education and arts in the city of Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texa ...
'' is a daily nonprofit news organization covering local government, business, education and arts in Tarrant County. The nonprofit organization, founded by local business leaders and former ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' publisher Wes Turner, announced its intentions in February 2021 and officially launched the newsroom in April 2021. The ''Fort Worth Press'' was a daily newspaper, published weekday afternoons and on Sundays from 1921 until 1975. It was owned by the
E. W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...
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 the ''Fort Worth Star Telegram''. The name ''Fort Worth Press'' was resurrected briefly in a new ''Fort Worth Press'' paper operated by then-former publisher Bill McAda and briefer still by William Dean Singleton, then-owner of the weekly ''Azle (Texas) News'', now owner of the Media Central news group. The ''Fort Worth Press'' operated from offices and presses at 500 Jones Street in Downtown Fort Worth. Television stations shared with Dallas include (
owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an network af ...
s of their affiliated networks are highlighted in bold) KDFW 4 (
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
), KXAS 5 (
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
),
WFAA WFAA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving as the American Broadcasting Company, ABC affiliate for the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Decatur, Texas, Decatur-li ...
8 (
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
), KTVT 11 (
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
), KERA 13 (
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
), KTXA 21 (Independent), KDFI 27 ( MNTV), KDAF 33 ( CW), and K07AAD-D (HC2 Holdings).


Radio stations

Over 33 radio stations operate in and around Fort Worth, with many different formats.


AM

On the AM dial, like in all other markets, political talk radio is prevalent, with WBAP 820,
KLIF The Norwegian Climate and Pollution Agency (, ''Klif''), named Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (, ''SFT'') until 2010, was a Norway, Norwegian etat, government agency from 1974 to 2013 when it was merged into the Norwegian Environment Agency ...
570,
KSKY KSKY (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Balch Springs, Texas, and serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned by the Salem Media Group and broadcasts a conservative talk radio format. KSKY broadcasts by day at 7 ...
660,
KFJZ KFJZ (870 AM) is a radio station broadcasting in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex with a financial news/talk format via the BizTalkRadio. This station is licensed in Fort Worth, Texas and is owned and operated by SIGA Broadcasting Corporation ...
870, KRLD 1080 the
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
talk stations serving Fort Worth and
KMNY KMNY (1360 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Hurst, Texas, and serving the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex. It is owned by Multicultural Broadcasting and broadcasts a Spanish-language Christian radio format known as "La Voz 1360. ...
1360 the sole progressive talk station serving the city. KFXR 1190 is a
news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...
/ classic country station.
Sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...
can be found on KTCK 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-successful
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
station before converting to its current talk format. Several religious stations are also on AM in the Dallas/Fort Worth area;
KHVN KHVN (970 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, and serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It airs an African American targeted all-news radio format, simulcast with ...
970 and KGGR 1040 are the local
urban gospel Urban/contemporary gospel, also known as urban gospel music, urban gospel pop, or just simply urban gospel, is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genr ...
stations, KEXB 1440 carries Catholic talk programming from
Relevant Radio Relevant Radio (corporate name Relevant Radio, Inc.) is a radio network in the United States, mainly broadcasting talk radio and religious programming involving the Catholic Church. Relevant Radio broadcasts "talk radio for Catholic life" over a ...
, and
KKGM KKGM (1630 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, and serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The station simulcasts an African American-targeted news format along with sister station KHVN 970 AM. KKGM and KHV ...
1630 has a Southern gospel format. Fort Worth's Spanish-speaking population is served by many stations on AM: * KAMM 1540 *
KDFT KDFT (540 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Ferris, Texas and broadcasting to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It is owned and operated by Multicultural Broadcasting and airs a Spanish-language Christian talk and teaching radi ...
540 *
KHFX KCPP (1140 kHz) is a non-commercial AM radio station licensed to Cleburne, Texas, and serving the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. It carries a Christian radio Catholic-based format and is owned by the La Promesa Foundation. By day, KCPP is p ...
1140 *
KFLC KFLC (1270 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Benbrook, Texas, and broadcasting to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The station is owned and operated by Latino Media Network, with studios located in the Univision Tower at the Pla ...
1270 * KTNO 620 *
KNGO KNGO (1480 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial Vietnamese Full-service radio, full service radio station licensed to serve Dallas, Dallas, Texas, and covering the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. It calls itself "Viet Radio" and s ...
1480 A few mixed Asian language stations serve Fort Worth: * KHSE 700 * KKDA 730 *
KTXV KTXV (890 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Mabank, Texas, and serving the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. It is owned by Sukhdev Dhillon, through licensee Radio Punjab Dallas LLC. KT ...
890 *
KVTT KVTT (1110 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Mineral Wells, Texas and serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It is owned by Saumil and Poorvesh Thakkar, through licensee Decat ...
1110 * KZEE 1220 * KCLE 1460 * KRVA 1600


FM

KLNO is a commercial radio station licensed to Fort Worth. Long-time Fort Worth resident Marcos A. Rodriguez operated Dallas-Fort Worth radio stations KLTY and KESS on 94.1 FM. Four
urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...
-formatted radio stations,
KBFB KBFB (97.9 FM) is a commercial radio station with an urban contemporary–leaning rhythmic contemporary radio format, known as "97.9 The Beat." It is licensed to Dallas, Texas and serves the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. KBFB is owned by Urba ...
97.9, KKDA 104.5,
KRNB KRNB (105.7 MHz), branded ''Smooth R&B 105.7'', is an urban adult contemporary–formatted radio station in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, owned by Service Broadcasting Corporation alongside sister station KKDA-FM. Its studios are located in ...
105.7, and KZMJ 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 KCBI (90.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is a listener-supported radio station, city of license, licensed to Dallas and serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in North Texas. It airs a Christian radio radio format, format and is owned by First Dallas ...
90.9, and KNTU 88.1, with a variety of programming. Also, the local
NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
station is KERA 90.1, along with
community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting. Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...
station KNON 89.3. Downtown Fort Worth also hosts the Texas Country radio station
KFWR KFWR is a country music FM radio station in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Texas, transmitting on 95.9 FM and playing a Texas Country format. This station is owned and operated by LKCM Radio Group. The station's studios are located in Sundanc ...
95.9 The Ranch.


Internet radio stations and shows

When local radio station KOAI 107.5 FM, now
KMVK KMVK (107.5  FM, "La Grande 107.5") is a commercial radio station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas and serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The station is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. KMVK broadcasts in Spanish and airs a radio ...
, dropped its
smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...
format, fans set up smoothjazz1075.com, an internet radio station, to broadcast smooth jazz for disgruntled fans.


Transportation

Like most cities that grew quickly after World War II, Fort Worth's main mode of transportation is the automobile, but bus transportation via
Trinity Metro Trinity Metro is a transit agency located in and serving the city of Fort Worth, Texas and its suburbs in surrounding Tarrant County, part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. Since 1983, it was previously known officially as the Fort W ...
is available, as well as an interurban train service to Dallas via the Trinity Railway Express. As of January 10, 2019, train service from Downtown Fort Worth to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport's Terminal B is available via Trinity Metro's TEXRail service.


History


Electric streetcars

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. 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. The new ownership changed the company's name to the Northern Texas Traction Company, which operated 84 miles of streetcar railways in 1925, and their lines connected downtown Fort Worth to TCU, the Near Southside, Fort Worth, Near Southside, Arlington Heights, Lake Como, and the Fort Worth Stockyards, Stockyards.


Electric interurban railways

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.


Current transport

In 2009, 80.6% of Fort Worth (city) commuters drive to work alone. The 2009 modal share, mode share for Fort Worth (city) commuters are 11.7% for carpooling, 1.5% for transit, 1.2% for walking, and .1% for cycling. 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. 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.


Roads

Fort Worth is served by four interstates and three U.S. highways. It also contains a number of arterial streets in a grid formation. Interstate highways Interstate 30 in Texas, 30, Interstate 20 in Texas, 20, Interstate 35W (Texas), 35W, and Interstate 820, 820 all pass through the city limits. Interstate 820 is a Loop route, loop of Interstate 20 and serves as a beltway for the city. Interstate 30 and Interstate 20 connect Fort Worth to Arlington, Grand Prairie, Texas, Grand Prairie, and Dallas. Interstate 35W connects Fort Worth with Hillsboro, Texas, Hillsboro to the south and the cities of Denton, Texas, Denton and Gainesville, Texas, Gainesville to the north. U.S. Route 287 runs southeast through the city connecting Wichita Falls, Texas, Wichita Falls to the north and Mansfield, Texas, Mansfield to the south. U.S. Route 377 runs south through the northern suburbs of Haltom City, Texas, Haltom City and Keller, Texas, Keller through the central business district. U.S. Route 81 shares a concurrency with highway 287 on the portion northwest of I-35W. Notable state highways: *Texas State Highway 114 (east-west) *Texas State Highway 183 (east-west) *Texas State Highway 121 (north-south)


Public transportation

Trinity Metro Trinity Metro is a transit agency located in and serving the city of Fort Worth, Texas and its suburbs in surrounding Tarrant County, part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. Since 1983, it was previously known officially as the Fort W ...
, 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 of Blue Mound, Forest Hill, River Oaks and Sansom Park. In 2010, Fort Worth won a $25 million Federal Urban Circulator grant to build a streetcar system. In December 2010, though, the city council forfeited the grant by voting to end the streetcar study. In July 2019, Trinity Metro partnered with Via Transportation to launch an on-demand microtransit 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. 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.


Rail transportation

*TEXRail is a commuter rail line opened in January 2019 that connects downtown Fort Worth with Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, with stops in the cities of
Grapevine ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, bot ...
and North Richland Hills, Texas, North Richland Hills. *Trinity Railway Express is a commuter rail line that operates between T&P Station in downtown Fort Worth and terminates at Dallas Union Station. * Two Amtrak routes stop at Fort Worth Central: ''Heartland Flyer'' and ''Texas Eagle''.


Airports

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. Prior to the construction of the DFW Airport, the city was served by Greater 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 by Texas State Highway 183 and Texas State Highway 360, 360. 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: * Fort Worth Alliance Airport * Fort Worth Meacham International Airport * Fort Worth Spinks Airport *
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth (abbreviated NAS JRB Fort Worth) includes Carswell Field, a military airbase located west of the central business district of Fort Worth, in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. This military ...


Walkability

A 2011 study by Walk Score ranked Fort Worth 47th-most walkable of 50 largest U.S. cities.


Notable people


Sister cities

Fort Worth is a part of the Sister Cities International program and maintains cultural and economic exchange programs with its sister cities: * Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy (1985) * Nagaoka, Niigata, Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, Niigata, Japan (1987) * Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany (1987) * Bandung, West Java, Indonesia (1990) * Budapest, Hungary (1990) * Toluca, Estado de Mexico, Mexico (1998) * Mbabane, Eswatini (2004) * Guiyang, Guizhou, China (2010) * Nîmes, Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, France (2019)


See also

* Fort Worth United Soccer Club * Forts of Texas * List of museums in North Texas * List of people from Fort Worth, Texas * National Juneteenth Museum


Notes


References


Further reading

* Cervantez, Brian. "'For the Exclusive Benefit of Fort Worth': Amon G. Carter, the Great Depression, and the New Deal." ''Southwestern Historical Quarterly'' 119.2 (2015): 120-146. * Delia Ann Hendricks, ''The History of Cattle and Oil in Tarrant County'' (M.A. thesis, Texas Christian University, 1969). * Oliver Knight, ''Fort Worth, Outpost on the Trinity'' (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1953). * Richard G. Miller, "Fort Worth and the Progressive Era: The Movement for Charter Revision, 1899–1907", in ''Essays on Urban America'', ed. Margaret Francine Morris and Elliot West (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1975). * Ruth Gregory Newman, ''The Industrialization of Fort Worth'' (M.A. thesis, North Texas State University, 1950). * Buckley B. Paddock, History of Texas: Fort Worth and the Texas Northwest Edition (4 vols., Chicago: Lewis, 1922). * J'Nell Pate, ''Livestock Legacy: The Fort Worth Stockyards, 1887–1987'' (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1988). * Warren H. Plasters, ''A History of Amusements in Fort Worth from the Beginning to 1879'' (M.A. thesis, Texas Christian University, 1947). * Robert H. Talbert, ''Cowtown-Metropolis: Case Study of a City's Growth and Structure'' (Fort Worth: Texas Christian University, 1956). *Joseph C. Terrell, ''Reminiscences of the Early Days of Fort Worth'' (Fort Worth, 1906). * * * * * * * * *


External links


Official sites and resources


City of Fort Worth official website

Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau

Downtown Fort Worth official website

Fort Worth Business Directory
*


Digital collections




Fort Worth Library Digital Archives

W.D. Smith Commercial Photography

The Reeder Children's Theatre Presents... Memories of Fort Worth's Reeder School



Geography

* {{portal bar, Texas Fort Worth, Texas, Cities in Texas Cities in Parker County, Texas Cities in Wise County, Texas Cities in Denton County, Texas Cities in Tarrant County, Texas County seats in Texas Populated places established in 1849 1849 establishments in Texas