50 Fun Facts About Fort Worth

Fort Worth is the county seat of which Texas county?

The city sprawls into Denton, Johnson, Parker and Wise counties too, covering nearly 350 square miles.

The original 1849 army outpost sat on a bluff overlooking which waterway?

The fort flooded in its first year and was moved to the top of the bluff, where the courthouse now stands.

Which cattle breed's trade historically centered on Fort Worth?

The city still markets its Western heritage as the 'City of Cowboys and Culture'.

The city is named for which general, who died of cholera in 1849?

He proposed a line of ten forts along the Texas frontier one month before his death.

Which major established Camp Worth on the river bank in June 1849?

General Harney had ordered him to find a site near the West Fork and Clear Fork.

Fort Worth's long-standing slogan says it is where what begins?

The War Department officially named the post Fort Worth on November 14, 1849.

Cattle drives through Fort Worth followed which famous route north to Kansas?

The drives earned the city the nickname Cowtown.

During the Civil War, Fort Worth's population fell as low as what?

It recovered during Reconstruction as general stores and banks opened.

Which animal did a Dallas lawyer claim to see asleep by the courthouse in 1875?

Meant as an insult, 'Panther City' was embraced, and the animal tops police badges today.

Which railway's 1876 arrival triggered Fort Worth's boom?

The city was newly dubbed the 'Queen City of the Prairies'.

Which two meatpacking giants were brought to the Stockyards by Louville Niles?

Niles was a Boston businessman and the Stockyards Company's main shareholder.

What was the name of Fort Worth's notorious saloon and gambling district?

It was the biggest collection of saloons and dance halls south of Dodge City.

The vice district earned Fort Worth which nickname?

By 1900 the Acre covered four of the city's main north-south streets.

Which marshal, nicknamed 'Longhair Jim', was elected in 1876 to tame the Acre?

He jailed as many as 30 people on a Saturday night but let the gamblers operate.

Who killed the former marshal in an 1887 Main Street shootout?

Bat Masterson spent the night armed in the killer's cell to head off a lynching.

Which Earp brother lived with his wife at the edge of the vice district?

The eldest Earp often tended bar at the Cattlemen's Exchange saloon uptown.

Which preacher's church was burned in 1912 after he attacked the vice district?

He was tried for perjury and arson over the fires and acquitted.

Which WWI army training installation's arrival helped shut down the Acre in 1917?

The military used martial law to regulate the district's prostitutes and barkeepers.

Which president spoke at a Fort Worth Chamber breakfast on the morning of November 22, 1963?

He then proceeded to Dallas, where he was assassinated later that day.

Natural gas beneath Fort Worth is tapped from which geological formation?

The city counted more than 1,000 wells by December 2009, permitted in every zoning category.

An F3 tornado struck downtown Fort Worth in which year?

The Bank One Tower was badly hit and has since become condominiums called The Tower.

Which downtown district, home to Bass Performance Hall, is known for nightlife?

Its blocks are lit with Christmas lights year-round.

Fort Worth is the only major city to host what every day?

It takes place in the Stockyards, alongside Cowtown Coliseum's weekly rodeo.

Billy Bob's Texas bills itself as the world's largest what?

It claims 100,000 square feet of interior space and nearly 20 acres of parking.

A vintage train links the Stockyards to which nearby city?

The Grapevine Vintage Railroad departs from Stockyards Station.

Who designed the Kimbell Art Museum building?

It is famed for the wash of silvery natural light across its vaulted ceilings; Renzo Piano designed a later addition.

Which Japanese architect designed the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth?

It sits in the same cultural district as the Kimbell and the Amon Carter.

The Sid Richardson Museum emphasises which two Western artists?

The Amon Carter's collection was also built on Remington and Russell's portrayals of the Old West.

Which Mexican architect designed the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History?

The city's museum district was built by a roll-call of contemporary architects.

The Fort Worth Water Gardens were designed by Philip Johnson and which partner?

The park is billed as a 'cooling oasis in the concrete jungle' of downtown.

Which 1976 sci-fi film shot scenes in the Water Gardens' Active Pool?

Water cascades 38 feet down terraces into the pool at the bottom.

Fort Worth hosts which international piano competition?

The city pairs it with a museum district designed by Kahn, Ando and Johnson.

Which style of music, the official state music of Texas, was born in Fort Worth in 1931?

Bob Wills and Milton Brown's Light Crust Doughboys created it at the Crystal Springs Dance Pavilion.

What is the nickname of Texas Christian University's sports teams?

The mascot Superfrog is based on the Texas state reptile.

TCU was founded in 1873 by brothers with which surname?

Addison and Randolph founded it as the AddRan Male & Female College.

Which running back's success under Dennis Franchione revived TCU football?

Under Gary Patterson the program went on to win the 2011 Rose Bowl.

TCU joined which athletic conference in 2012?

The move ended the Horned Frogs' role as 'BCS Busters' alongside Boise State and Utah.

Which golf legend from Fort Worth made Colonial Country Club his home course?

The Colonial's tournament has been titled the Charles Schwab Challenge since 2019.

Texas Motor Speedway is a quad-oval of what length?

Nicknamed 'The Great American Speedway', it opened in 1997 in the far north of the city.

The Cowtown Marathon has been run every February since which year?

The two-day event also includes two 5Ks, a 10K, a half and an ultra marathon.

Who became Fort Worth's mayor in 2021?

It makes Fort Worth the second-largest US city with a Republican mayor.

Paper money printed in Fort Worth carries which small mark in one corner?

It is one of only two Bureau of Engraving and Printing locations; production began in December 1990.

FMC Carswell, inside the naval air station, houses what for female inmates?

It sits inside Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth.

Fort Worth's major daily newspaper is the Star-what?

Founded in 1906 as the Fort Worth Star, it dominates the western half of the metroplex.

The city transit agency's downtown bus circulator is nicknamed what?

Trinity Metro, formerly the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, also runs buses in Blue Mound and River Oaks.

Which commuter rail line opened in 2019 linking downtown to DFW Airport?

It stops in Grapevine and North Richland Hills on the way.

Before DFW opened, the city's main airport was originally named after which publisher?

Greater Southwest International operated from 1953 to 1974; one stub of runway survives.

DFW Airport is the second-largest US airport by land area after which one?

DFW owns 17,207 acres and has its own ZIP code, 75261.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Fort Worth, in June 1980, was what?

It came during the Great 1980 Heat Wave; the record low is -8 °F from 1899.

The first US Navy ship named for the city carries which hull designation?

The LCS designation marks it as a littoral combat ship.