The Fort Worth Stockyards is a designated historic district that is located in Fort Worth, Texas. The area covers about 98 acres of land, and most of it is listed in the National Register of Historic Places under the name Fort Worth Historic District. The area is known for holding a former stock market that operated under different owners from 1866. And it is an organized place where you can buy sheep, hogs, and cattle. They are sold and slaughtered here in the stockyards. In this article, we are going to learn more about the Fort Worth Stockyards.

History

When the railroads arrived in Texas in 1876, it made the location of the Fort Worth Stockyards a vital livestock center. Fort Worth Union Stockyards opened on January 19, 1890, and during that time, it was 206 acres big. In February that same year, the Fort Worth Dressed Meat and Packing Company was established, and it operated without profit until G.W. Simpson of Boston decided to purchase it. In order to have a revenue, the company decided to reach out to the Swift and Armour companies to start packing houses.

Four stockyards were built near the railroads in 1886. Boston capitalist Greenlief W. Simpson and half dozen Chicago and Boston associates united the Fort Worth Stock Yards Company in March 1893. Aside from that, they also purchased the Fort Worth Packing Company and Union Stock Yards. Since it opened, the Stockyards experienced early success, and by 1907, it was able to sell about a million cattle each year. Until the 1950s, Fort Worth remained an essential part of the cattle industry. However, because of livestock auctions held on locations close to where the livestock was produced initially, business in the stockyards suffered. Fortunately, they still managed to survive, and today, we are still able to see and experience Fort Worth’s long tradition as a part of the cattle industry.

The Stockyards Today

Since 1976 the Fort Worth Stockyards was listed on the National Register as a historic district. The listing encompassed a total of 46 contributing buildings as well as a contributing structure. The recorded Texas Historic Landmarks that are in the district include the Livestock Exchange Building, the entrance sign, the Thannisch Block Building that houses the Stockyards Hotel.

Today, the Stockyards is mainly an entertainment and shopping venue with a “Cowtown” theme of Fort Worth. This is where you will find the famous boot making company called M.L. Leddy’s, and it is located in the center of the Stockyards. Besides that, you can also visit the Maverick Fine Western Wear and Saloon, where you can go “belly up” to the bar, have some cold beer while relaxing in the Stockyards, just like they did during the big cattle drives. Aside from that, you can also shop for gifts and souvenirs around the store.

The city of Fort Worth is often hailed as Where the West Begins. That is why it’s no question that several bars and nightclubs are located in the Fort Worth Stockyards, and place which is known to have a Western motif. Aside from these bars and restaurants, the Stockyards is also an opry, and every week, they hold the Stockyards Championship Rodeo.

The Library of Congress said that the Fort Worth Stockyards is the last standing stockyards in the United States. Today, volunteers still run the cattle drives through the stockyards, and this run is a tradition that was developed during the late 19th century.

The Fort Worth Stockyards Stables underwent remodeling. It opened to the public on April 1, 2011. The stables are now located next to the Hyatt hotel, where the original Historic Stockyards building was built in 1912. The barns provide overnight boarding, full care boarding, hourly boarding, as well as horse rentals, where you can ride horses on the open trails of the Trinity River. Aside from the boarding services, the boarders can also enjoy riding their horses all around the Historic Stockyards