Fort Worth: Where the West Begins and the Stockyards Still Run
Fort Worth is Dallas's twin and opposite - the cowboy city to Dallas's corporate character, the western town where cattle still walk the streets to Dallas's glass towers. The Stockyards National Historic District runs actual cattle drives twice daily; cowboys in actual boots work the pens; the honky-tonks on Exchange Avenue serve actual Texans. The city of 960,000 has grown nearly as large as Dallas but maintained an identity distinct from its neighbor. Fort Worth is 'Where the West Begins' - the historic phrase that marked the boundary between settled Texas and frontier Texas. The boundary moved west long ago; Fort Worth kept the character.
The Stockyards
The Fort Worth Stockyards were once the largest livestock market in the Southwest - cattle from across Texas arriving by rail, the buyers negotiating at the Livestock Exchange, the meatpacking plants processing the beef. The industry moved to feedlots and rural processing; the Stockyards became historic district. The cattle drives that run down Exchange Avenue twice daily are performance now, but the longhorns are real, the drovers are skilled, the connection to heritage is genuine. The honky-tonks - Billy Bob's Texas claims to be the world's largest - fill nightly. The Stockyards are tourist destination and identity statement both.
The Art
Fort Worth's art museums would distinguish a city ten times its size. The Kimbell Art Museum, designed by Louis Kahn, holds masterworks in one of America's finest museum buildings. The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, designed by Tadao Ando, presents contemporary works reflected in a water pool. The Amon Carter Museum of American Art covers Western and American art comprehensively. The three museums form a cultural district that rivals any American city. The collections were built by oil money - the Kimbells, the Basses, the Carters - proving that cowboy character and sophisticated culture coexist.
The Bass
The Bass family - heirs to Sid Richardson's oil fortune - transformed Fort Worth. Their investments rebuilt downtown, funded the museums, attracted businesses that might otherwise have located in Dallas. The Bass wealth operates through the city like a benevolent presence, the family rarely visible but always influential. Sundance Square, the 35-block downtown district, shows what concentrated wealth can build when owners care about place. Fort Worth's revival is a case study in what philanthropy can accomplish - and what happens when a few families control a city's destiny.
The Rivalry
Fort Worth and Dallas share an airport, a media market, and mutual suspicion. Dallas is corporate; Fort Worth is cowboy. Dallas is East; Fort Worth is West. The rivalry is mostly friendly now, the cities functioning as one metropolitan area while maintaining distinct characters. Fort Worth residents choose their city deliberately - the culture, the cost (slightly lower), the character that Dallas lacks. The rivalry defines identity: Fort Worth knows what it is partly by knowing what Dallas is not.
Visiting Fort Worth
Fort Worth is served by Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). The Stockyards are essential - watch the cattle drive at 11:30 AM and 4 PM, explore the shops and honky-tonks. The Cultural District clusters the Kimbell, Modern, and Amon Carter museums; all deserve time. Sundance Square provides downtown dining and entertainment. The Fort Worth Zoo is excellent. For food, the Stockyards offer tourist-oriented steakhouses; downtown offers wider range. The heat is brutal in summer; spring and fall are best. Fort Worth rewards visitors who appreciate Western heritage and world-class art in the same city.
From the Air
Located at 32.76°N, 97.33°W 30 miles west of Dallas on the Texas prairie. From altitude, Fort Worth appears as the western anchor of the Metroplex - the downtown visible, the Stockyards visible as a distinctive historic district, DFW Airport visible between the two cities. What appears from altitude as Dallas's twin city is where the West begins - where the Stockyards still run cattle drives, where the museums hold world-class art, and where Cowtown kept its character while its neighbor went corporate.