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All the United States Texas Fort Worth Fort Worth Stockyards

Fort Worth Stockyards

Belly up to the bar in Cowtown, don't forget to buy some boots.

Fort Worth, Texas

Added By
Patrick Blanco
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Exchange Street   Mark Fisher on Wikimedia
Exchange Street   Mark Fisher on Wikimedia
Stockyards (postcard, circa 1900–1908)   The University of Houston Digital Library on Wikipedia
Fort Worth Stockyards   David Herrera on Wikimedia
The sign!   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
Daily Long Horn Cattle Drive   Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  AJofTX / Atlas Obscura User
  AJofTX / Atlas Obscura User
Live stock exchange   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
Exchange Avenue in the Fort Worth Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas (United States).   Michael Barera / Atlas Obscura User
Fort Worth Stockyards   Global Sightseer / Atlas Obscura User
Fort Worth Stockyards   Global Sightseer / Atlas Obscura User
  notoriousFIG / Atlas Obscura User
  doddmelcher / Atlas Obscura User
  doddmelcher / Atlas Obscura User
  doddmelcher / Atlas Obscura User
  doddmelcher / Atlas Obscura User
  jlord7 / Atlas Obscura User
  AJofTX / Atlas Obscura User
Stockyard   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
Cattle   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The historic stockyards located in Fort Worth may be old, but they haven't been forgotten. It fact, it's the stockyard's former productivity that labeled the city to be colloquially recognized as “Cowtown”, due to the millions of cattle that were bought and sold at auction from 1866 to 1890. 

The Old West is known for its wild, untamed image of desolate landscapes, occupied by sparsely located towns dispersed amongst the remote frontier. Some of the inhabitants of this unforgiving terrain included cowboys who were characteristically well known for their cattle driving. For the cowboys heading longhorn cattle in a northerly direction from southern Texas by way of the Chisholm Trail, Fort Worth was the last major settlement on the trail with railroads capable of distributing livestock to major population centers in the United States. Soon the growing demand for beef on the eastern seaboard prompted one wealthy entrepreneur from Boston, Greenleif W. Simpson, to capitalize on the livestock market by establishing stockyards and accompanying processing facilities at Fort Worth.

The emergence of the interstate highway system displaced the dependence of railroads causing the livestock business to significantly decline at the Fort Worth stockyards, which now consist of entertainment venues such as shopping outlets, restaurants, and an indoor rodeo. Most of these businesses are next to the main street that runs though the stockyard district where cowboys showcase cattle drives for audiences. Although the superficial attractions displayed at the stockyards are only sleight attempts designed to draw in visitors to spend money, the scenery still provides a subtle romantic image of the Wild West.

Related Tags

Shops Industrial Wild West

Community Contributors

Added By

pblanco0067

Edited By

Rachel, doddmelcher, notoriousFIG, Collector of Experiences...

  • Rachel
  • doddmelcher
  • notoriousFIG
  • Collector of Experiences
  • Michael Barera
  • Global Sightseer
  • AJofTX
  • Jason Michael Walker
  • jlord7
  • heysoif

Published

December 1, 2015

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Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Worth_Stockyards
  • http://www.fortworthstockyards.org/History.aspx
Fort Worth Stockyards
130 East Exchange Ave.
Fort Worth, Texas
United States
32.790278, -97.346111
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