Fort Worth Cotton Oil Co. purchased a twelve-acre site tot he west of the Stockyards area in 1899. The firm’s Fort Worth operations were conveniently located to take advantage of the industrial growth and railroad transportationwhich Swift and Armour would bring to the area in 1902 and the complex was within the city limits of Niles City when it incorporated in 1911. This site contained at least nine major structures. Purchased by Consumers Cotton Oil Co. in 1938, Swift & Co. acquired the site in 1946. The mill presumably producted cattlefeed as a by-product which could be used at the livestock operations nearby. A small, two-story office block on Decatur Avenue has a square plan. The structure is now painted and the segmentally-arched windows are boarded up. A long brick structure, identified as the Main Mill of the Fort Worth Cotton Oil Co. is situated just north of the Fort Worth Belt Railway tracks. it was probably constructed soon after the line was put through in 1902. Two brick buildings erected at different times compose the sturcture, which varies in height from two to three stories. Segmentally-arched and rectangular windows in the structure are now boarded up. The huge, rectangular Seed House, c. 1920, consists of a gabled monitor roof over side walls clad in corrugated metal. The eastern section exhibits brick end walls, and a later extension to the west is clad entirely in metal. A warehouse appears to have flanked this structure to the east. South of this building, the Hull House is a simple gabled form sheathed in metal siding. At least seventeen fire sheds were located around the Fort Worth Cotton Oil Co. plant, as indicated by a 1927 Sanborn Insurance map of the complex. One smalluare shed remains, of vertical matchstick boarding once painted red. It contains shelves, hose, and a new hydrant. Topped by a pressed metal bulbous roof with ball finials, it features a cornice with dentils. The structure, which were in poor condition, have been demolished.
