Fort Worth Stockyards
Dec 21, 2023 09:04:59 #
The Fort Worth Stockyards celebrates the city's long tradition in the cattle industry and was listed on the National Register as a historical district in 1976. The listing included 46 contributing buildings.
Fort Worth Stockyards by Paul Sager, on Flickr
Fort Worth Stockyards
Ft Worth, Texas
February 2009
Fort Worth is the 5th-most populous city in the state of Texas and the 13th-most populous city in the United States. Ft Worth is the county seat of Tarrant County.
Fort Worth Stockyards
Fort Worth's population was estimaged at 957,000 in 2022. Fort Worth is the second-largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, which is the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the United States, and the most populous in Texas.
Fort Worth Stockyards b
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 cattle trade.
Fort Worth Stockyards
Fort Worth became the center of the cattle drives, and later, the ranching industry. It was given the nickname of Cowtown.
Fort Worth Stockyards
The annual Cowtown Marathon has been held on the last weekend in February since 1978. The two-day activities include two 5Ks, a 10K, the half marathon, and the full 26.2-mile marathon. The images in this post date from the 2009 race weekend, when I was down to the Stockyards on the evening after running the full marathon. The images all use the film-era EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM mounted to a digital Rebel, the 10MP EOS XTi. The original JPEGs were edited recently in Adobe Lightroom v6.
Fort Worth Stockyards
The long cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail left from Fort Worth, heading north to Kansas. Cowboys 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 (the northern terminus of the Chisholm Trail), giving Fort Worth the nickname of the "Paris of the Plains".
Fort Worth Stockyards
The arrival of railroads in 1876 made the area an important livestock center. By 1886, four stockyards had been built near the railroads. Fort Worth Union Stockyards opened for business on January 19, 1890, covering 206 acres.
Fort Worth Stockyards
At its inception, Fort Worth relied on cattle drives that traveled the Chisholm Trail. Millions of cattle were driven north to market along this trail, and Fort Worth became the center of cattle drives until the American Civil War. During the American Civil War, Fort Worth suffered shortages causing its population to decline. It recovered during the Reconstruction with general stores, banks, and "Hell's Half-Acre", the large collection of saloons and dance halls that increased both business and criminal activity in the city.
Fort Worth Stockyards
By 1907, the Stockyards sold a million cattle per year. The stockyards were organized around cattle, sheep, and hogs, to be bought, sold and slaughtered. Fort Worth remained an important part of the cattle industry until the 1950s.
Fort Worth Stockyards
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.
Fort Worth Stockyards
Weather permitting, reenactments of a 19th century cattle drive are held twice daily, except on certain holidays.
Fort Worth Stockyards
Nowadays the Stockyards consist of mainly entertainment and shopping venues that capitalize on the "Cowtown" image of Fort Worth.
Fort Worth Stockyards
The city of Fort Worth is often referred to as "Where the West Begins."
Fort Worth Stockyards
Fort Worth Stockyards by Paul Sager, on Flickr
Fort Worth Stockyards
Ft Worth, Texas
February 2009
Fort Worth is the 5th-most populous city in the state of Texas and the 13th-most populous city in the United States. Ft Worth is the county seat of Tarrant County.
Fort Worth Stockyards
Fort Worth's population was estimaged at 957,000 in 2022. Fort Worth is the second-largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, which is the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the United States, and the most populous in Texas.
Fort Worth Stockyards b
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 cattle trade.
Fort Worth Stockyards
Fort Worth became the center of the cattle drives, and later, the ranching industry. It was given the nickname of Cowtown.
Fort Worth Stockyards
The annual Cowtown Marathon has been held on the last weekend in February since 1978. The two-day activities include two 5Ks, a 10K, the half marathon, and the full 26.2-mile marathon. The images in this post date from the 2009 race weekend, when I was down to the Stockyards on the evening after running the full marathon. The images all use the film-era EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM mounted to a digital Rebel, the 10MP EOS XTi. The original JPEGs were edited recently in Adobe Lightroom v6.
Fort Worth Stockyards
The long cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail left from Fort Worth, heading north to Kansas. Cowboys 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 (the northern terminus of the Chisholm Trail), giving Fort Worth the nickname of the "Paris of the Plains".
Fort Worth Stockyards
The arrival of railroads in 1876 made the area an important livestock center. By 1886, four stockyards had been built near the railroads. Fort Worth Union Stockyards opened for business on January 19, 1890, covering 206 acres.
Fort Worth Stockyards
At its inception, Fort Worth relied on cattle drives that traveled the Chisholm Trail. Millions of cattle were driven north to market along this trail, and Fort Worth became the center of cattle drives until the American Civil War. During the American Civil War, Fort Worth suffered shortages causing its population to decline. It recovered during the Reconstruction with general stores, banks, and "Hell's Half-Acre", the large collection of saloons and dance halls that increased both business and criminal activity in the city.
Fort Worth Stockyards
By 1907, the Stockyards sold a million cattle per year. The stockyards were organized around cattle, sheep, and hogs, to be bought, sold and slaughtered. Fort Worth remained an important part of the cattle industry until the 1950s.
Fort Worth Stockyards
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.
Fort Worth Stockyards
Weather permitting, reenactments of a 19th century cattle drive are held twice daily, except on certain holidays.
Fort Worth Stockyards
Nowadays the Stockyards consist of mainly entertainment and shopping venues that capitalize on the "Cowtown" image of Fort Worth.
Fort Worth Stockyards
The city of Fort Worth is often referred to as "Where the West Begins."
Fort Worth Stockyards
Dec 21, 2023 10:16:03 #
StanMac
Loc: Tennessee
Nice shots of that iconic attraction. Fort Worth is a much more desirable neighborhood than Dallas, IMO.
Stan
Stan
Dec 21, 2023 11:07:42 #
Dec 21, 2023 11:17:58 #
Dec 21, 2023 11:53:59 #
Dec 21, 2023 12:06:57 #
CHG_CANON wrote:
The Fort Worth Stockyards celebrates the city's lo... (show quote)
Wonderful tour of Fort Worth Paul
Dec 21, 2023 12:08:56 #
Thank you Stan, Mike, Ben, Earnest, Jim! I've mentioned in the past that I started using Lightroom only around 2015, and didn't run a mass import of legacy images until around 2017. These original JPEGs have kind of been 'lost' until I had a recent reason to be wondering around the 2009 section of the LRCAT. An aggressive cull of the original captures, a quick edit, and voilà. 
Dec 21, 2023 12:40:07 #
JimG1
Loc: Waxahachie, TX
I love seeing the Stockyards through another photographer's eyes, great job Paul. I loved going there to wander and shoot on a Friday afternoon. It was one of my favorite places. Then the over commercialization started. The free parking went away and at $10-20 to park it wasn't as much fun.
Dec 21, 2023 12:55:36 #
JimG1 wrote:
I love seeing the Stockyards through another photographer's eyes, great job Paul. I loved going there to wander and shoot on a Friday afternoon. It was one of my favorite places. Then the over commercialization started. The free parking went away and at $10-20 to park it wasn't as much fun.
Thanks Jim! These images are from my last visit to the Stockyards, now more than a decade ago. And, that was my first visit since I was about as old as the child on the longhorn, and that visit was back in the early 70s.
Dec 21, 2023 16:12:34 #
Dec 21, 2023 22:44:23 #
Dec 22, 2023 06:22:33 #
CHG_CANON wrote:
The Fort Worth Stockyards celebrates the city's lo... (show quote)
Great captures showing the history of a great city.
Dec 22, 2023 06:51:20 #
Dec 22, 2023 08:16:41 #
Thanks for posting these, Paul. I have heard of the Fort Worth Stockyards forever, but have never seen any photos of them.
Dec 22, 2023 08:17:23 #
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