HOW FORT WORTH BEGAN
Historical Spotlights
drag strips of fort worth
for the rough-racers out there, speed on over to the fwh shop to snag our original forest hill drag strip tee
Green Valley Raceway
1960-1986
Built in 1960 and located in then Smithfield, Texas (which was annexed into North Richland Hills) it was considered one of "America's most modern drag strips" and was listed as a National Hot Rod Association track
forest hill drag strip
c. 1955
Located on HWY 81 in the southeast of Fort Worth, it was considered a pretty crude drag strip, basically for the low-buck racers out there
Drag racing is form of racing that saw a huge boom in popularity in the late 1940s, when an influx of mechanically minded men returned from WWII.When the drag racing bug spread, cities and towns across the country felt the negative effects of street racing.
This pushed folks to find a safer place to race. During the 1950s, many car clubs inspired the construction of drag strips.
The first purpose-built drag strip was in Southern California, and is known as the Santa Ana Drags. It began operation in 1950 on an airstrip. The West Coast ways soon moved across the country, with drag strips popping up everywhere, including Tarrant County.
THE HOLLYWOOD THEATER: built in 1930
Hidden behind locked doors at a downtown W. Seventh Street building lives a Fort Worth Treasure. An ornate vintage auditorium of a 1,800-seat theater
that has been closed for over 40 years.
Original Photos by Fort Worth Historical and Kevin FideS
opening day : April 17th, 1930
The Hollywood Theater opened April 17th, 1930 and was the third and last of Fort Worth’s “Movie Cathedrals” joining the Worth and the Palace.
art deco style
Today, all that remains are the balcony, walls, ceiling and the screen area, along with the mezzanine, marble staircase and part of the lobby
During the time when the industry was switching from silent movies and musicians to “talking pictures”, The Hollywood Theater opened April 17th, 1930 and was the third and last of Fort Worth’s “Movie Cathedrals” joining the Worth and the Palace. The Hollywood is inside The Electric Building, that built in 1929 by Houston investor Jesse H. Jones for Texas Electric Service Co., (now TXU Energy). Both the theater and the electric building were designed by Wyatt C. Hedrick in then popular art deco style.
The amazing people over at the Historic Electric Building Apartments graciously opened the theater for us for a few hours. Click through to see more photos.
JACKSBORO HIGHWAY: TX HWY 199
The Rocket Club. Cheers to the good (devilish) ole days
our original vintage matchbook advertisement tee
THE ROCKET CLUB
The Rocket Club proved a popular North Fort Worth club to drink beer and listen to rock n’ roll way back in the 1940s.
clubs included…
Patrons who frequented the many clubs were power couples. local celebrities to gangsters looking for a good and rowdy time out on the neon-soaked highway.
TX Highway 199, better known asknown as the Jackboro Highway.
Running north west out of downtown Fort Worth. Jacksboro Highway’s few miles of roadway stretched from Fort Worth toward Azle, Jacksboro, Wichita Falls and Amarillo.
With its proximity to the Stockyards, the businesses along Jacksboro Highway did a booming business every weekend.
Jacksboro Highway, Fort Worth’s version of Bourbon Street that would definitely live up to the legacy left by Hell’s Half Acre.
Fort Worth's HELL's half acre
Inspired by fort worth's very own red light district own a piece of diabolical history with our original hell's half acre design
The center of hell's half acre
Centered around 10th to 15th Street, intersecting with Houston, Main & Rusk Streets - all Hell breaks loose.
wanted dead or alive
When they weren't robbing trains or banks, the "hole-in-the-Wall Gang" spent much of their downtime in Fort Worth's Hell's Half Acre
the gunfight of 1887
For Gambler Jim Short and Gunfighter & Sheriff "Longhair Jim" Courtright, one night in particular was pivotal for the city of Fort Worth.
Hell's Half Acre was a rough and rowdy precinct of Fort Worth, Texas originating during the early to mid 1870s in the Old Wild West. Basically, Fort Worth’s ‘red light district’. Hell's Half Acre consisted of boarding houses, brothels, gambling parlours, hotels, saloons, and a sparse assortment of mercantile businesses. The twenty-two thousand square foot ward caught the glimpse of such Old West personalities as Bat Masterson, Butch Cassidy, Doc Holliday, Etta Place, Luke Short, Sam Bass, Sundance Kid, and Wyatt Earp
FORT WORTH'S FOUNDING YEAR 1849
Our Iconic signature logo tee sporting the year Fort Worth began. find this vintage inspired design & more in the FWH Shop.
oldest known fw photo c. 1870
This is the oldest know photograph c. 1870
How cowtown began
Fort Worth, Texas is know as "Cowtown" for its cattle drive history. Located along the Trinity River where millions of cattle were herded on the Chisolm Trail. Fort Worth calls itself the "place where the West begins".
'panther city' explained
Whatever you do...don't wake the panther.
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