Fort Worth

Fort Worth is a city in north-central Texas along the Trinity River, located west of neighboring Dallas. The settlement originated as a frontier military outpost along the Clear Fork branch of the river. Longhorn cattle drives along the Chisholm Trail established its identity as Cowtown.

Major Ripley Arnold founded a military outpost along the river bluffs in 1849, naming the garrison in honor of General William Jenkins Worth. The withdrawal of frontier troops in the 1850s left a small trading village that became the county seat of Tarrant County. The arrival of the Texas and Pacific Railway in 1876 stimulated wholesale merchandise exchange and livestock trade, transforming the settlement into a railhead. Construction of corporate meatpacking facilities and timber livestock pens in the 1890s established a permanent regional livestock market.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics manufactures supersonic combat aircraft, producing the multirole stealth fighter F-35 Lightning II for aerospace defense programs. Bell Textron engineers commercial utility rotorcraft, civilian transport helicopters, and military tiltrotor aviation equipment. Acme Brick Company fabricates kiln-fired clay building bricks, architectural pavers, and refractory masonry blocks, while Williamson-Dickie designs heavy canvas work jackets, utility trousers, and reinforced industrial apparel under the Dickies brand.

The Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District features wooden cattle corrals, brick walkways, and twice-daily longhorn cattle drives. The Kimbell Art Museum occupies an architectural pavilion of vaulted concrete galleries designed in the 1970s by Louis Kahn. The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth exhibits post-World War II paintings and sculptures within five glass pavilions designed by Tadao Ando. The Fort Worth Water Gardens contains an active pool where water cascades down stone steps into a sunken plaza designed by Philip Johnson.