Harbison-Fischer Manufacturing Co. was founded in 1933 by Dixon and Lawrence Harbison, machinists at the Petroleum Equipment Co., and Charles A. Fischer, treasurer of the Structural Steel Co. The new company produced oil and pumping equipment parts, initially in a rented building on E. Broadway Avenue (see 501-07 E. Broadway [since demolished]). In early 1937, the company moved into its newly constructed plant on Virginia Avenue. The building is architecturally significant for its two-story concrete office block, placed like a façade on the street frontage, with corrugated metal manufacturing shops extending to the rear. Streamlined Moderne in style, the office block has smooth white-painted wails with rounded corners, horizontal banding, and window panels glazed with glass block. The central portico has a superb stainless steel door and transom panel embossed with the street address. The name of the company appears crisply on the front wall in metal letters. Harbison-Fischer recently moved to new facilities in Crowley. The original plant is now vacant. Its Moderne façade is expressive of the confidence and vigor of the oil industry in pre-war Fort Worth. The building will be potentially eligible for the National Register once it reaches 50 years of age. The Harbison-Fischer Mfg Co. Factory has been demolished.
