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* In addition to the state sales tax, Fort Worth has a 2.0% local sales tax.
Fort Worth, western anchor city of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, identifies itself as "Where the West Begins." Proud of its colorful western heritage and rowdy past, the city carefully preserves its history even as it plans for the future. Within its downtown, cowboys, cattle auctions, and horse-drawn carriages coexist with cultural centers and modern office towers. Glass and steel skyscrapers housing headquarters of aviation, aerospace, and high-technology companies share sidewalks with renovated historic districts such as the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District and downtown's Sundance Square. With a population growth of 29.3 percent between 1990 and 2000, Fort Worth/Dallas is among the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country.
The City in Brief
| 1849 (incorporated 1873) | |
| Mayor Michael J. Moncrief (NP) (since 2003) | |
| 385,164 | |
| 447,619 | |
| 534,694 | |
| 585,122 | |
| 19.3% | |
| 33rd | |
| 28th (State rank: 6th) | |
| 27th (State rank: 6th) | |
| 4,037,282 | |
| 5,221,801 | |
| 29.3% | |
| 9th | |
| 9th | |
| 292.5 square miles (2000) | |
| Ranges from 500 to 800 feet above sea level | |
| 65.5° F | |
| 34.73 inches | |
| services, wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing | |
| 5.0% (December 2004) | |
| $18,800 (2000) | |
| 41,280 | |
| University of Texas at | |
| Fort Worth Star-Telegram |
For more information on Fort Worth, visit Britannica.com.
Fort Worth is located in the north-central area of Texas. Recognized as where the West begins, Fort Worth has maintained its reputation as a frontier cow town. Established originally as an army fort along the Trinity River in 1849, Fort Worth represented the farthest point west of the settled frontier. Although its population continued to grow, it was not until after the Civil War that Fort Worth began to prosper. The cattle industry was a major part of the local economy, from the cattle drives of the 1870s to the meat-packing businesses of Armour and Swift in the 1900s. Just as important was the Texas and Pacific Railroad, which reached Fort Worth in 1876. With the discovery of oil in Texas, Fort Worth became the "wildcat center" at the turn of the twentieth century, serving as a railroad crossroads for pipeline and refinery companies. During World War II, Fort Worth became a center of aviation, with Carswell Air Force Base, General Dynamics, and Dallas–Fort Worth Airport. In the 1980s, Fort Worth began renovation and renewal of the city's downtown and north side in an effort to preserve and retain its Old West heritage.
Bibliography
Knight, Oliver. Outpost on the Trinity. Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 1990.
Sanders, Leonard. How Fort Worth Became the Texasmost City, 1849–1920. Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 1986.
Schmelzer, Janet. Where the West Begins: Fort Worth and Tarrant County. Northridge, Calif.: Windsor, 1985.
—Janet Schmelzer
Fort Worth, which in its rivalry with Dallas calls itself the city "where the West begins," has been financially revitalized since the construction of major industrial parks in the 1980s, and suburban expansion continues. Oil and gas, cattle, and grain remain important, but newer industries, such as aerospace and electronic equipment manufacture, wholesaling and distribution, transportation, communications, and food processing, have led economic development. The airline industry is critical, with both the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Alliance cargo airport in or near the city; American Airlines is based there.
Fort Worth is the seat of Texas Christian Univ., Texas Wesleyan Univ., and a Baptist seminary. The Tarrant County Convention Center, Kimbell Art Museum, Amon Carter Museum, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Texas Motor Speedway, Bass Performance Center (in Sundance Square), and the old stockyards are among its visitor attractions.
The country code is: 236
The city code is: 817