History at Historic Fort Worth, Inc.

Established in 1969 and selected in 2001 as a Local Partner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Historic Fort Worth, Inc. is a non-profit, membership organization that is dedicated to preserving Fort Worth’s unique historic identity through stewardship, education and leadership. Administrative offices and the Preservation Resource Center are located at the Ball-Eddleman-McFarland House, 1110 Penn Street. Historic Fort Worth owns, operates and restores Thistle Hill (1904) and the Ball-Eddleman-McFarland House (1899), and makes both properties available to the public for tours, educational programs, corporate events, parties and weddings.   Additionally, Historic Fort Worth, Inc. owns the mid-century modern 1953 Yates-Ottmann Building at 1020 Summit Avenue.

 

Programs at Historic Fort Worth include Historic Sites Tours for adults and children, Restoration & Property Management Program, Historic Property Research Program, Gifts-of-Property Program, Economic Incentives Training for Developers of Historic Properties, Preservation Awards & Lecture Program, Heritage Tourism Program, Emergency Leadership and Education Program and Façade Easement Program. Events include The Historic Fort Worth, Inc. Charity Antiques Show, The Hidden Gardens Tour of Fort Worth, Preservation is the Art of the City, SOLD! on Historic Neighborhoods, Designer Showhouses, and Quality Hill Holidays. Membership programs include Historic Detectives for children and Tour Today for “grown-ups.”   Members explore interesting private and public buildings and receive invitations to all of the organization’s events. Annually, over 30,000 individuals participate in programs or events at HFW, and approximately 1,500 of these are children.

 

Highlights from 2001 to the present include the following:

  • In 1999 organized and led the tours and sessions for the 6th Art Deco World Pre-Congress
  • In 1999-2000 partnered with the City of Fort Worth to survey the Near Southeast Neighborhood and the Fairmount Local and National Register Historic District. Wrote the nomination for the Near Southeast Neighborhood (Fort Worth’s most intact African-American community) to become a National Register Historic District.
  • In 2002 served as the local lead partner for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Texas Historical Commission to produce the National Town Meeting on Main Street conference. This effort resulted in over 1500 tourists and generated a $1.8 million economic benefit for Fort Worth businesses.
  • In 2002 established a Gifts-of-Property program with the gift of a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark at 2404 South Adams.
  • In 2001-2 collaborated with the Mistletoe Heights Neighborhood Association to establish a Local Historic District.
  • In 2002 opened a fully-staffed Preservation Resource Center as a gift to the community.
  • In 2002 developed a children’s preservation program called History Detectives.
  • In 2003 collaborated with the Texas Society of Architects and the Texas Historical Commission on their Fort Worth conferences
  • In 2002 re-established the 1969 Revolving Fund program at HFW
  • In 2003 collaborated with others to fund a new slate roof for the Boys & Girls Club’s building that is located in a Fairmount-Southside Local and National Register Historic District.
  • In 2006 accepted Thistle Hill on January 1, 2006, to continue the important role this iconic property plays in educating the public about the cattle baron era in Fort Worth, Texas
  • In 2007 organized the Your Town: Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, SUNY University and the Carl Small Town Center
  • In 2008 launched Fort Worth’s first electronic survey of historic resources with over 500 properties located in the Southside of Fort Worth
Fort Worth has enviable historic resources that include modest neighborhoods of charming bungalows, grand cattle baron mansions, cherished public schools, signature civic buildings, magnificent religious institutions and elegant bridges. Many of these resources are over 50 years old and have no designation protection from demolition.  Collectively, these historic resources shape Fort Worth’s unique historic identity. It will take all of us working together in order for our children, and their children, and their children to experience Fort Worth’s architectural treasures of the past. Join Historic Fort Worth in that work now.