This one-story commercial building, of brick and hollow tile construction, has a veneer of cast stone. The curving façade takes splendid advantage of a prominent corner location at the intersection of two thoroughfares. The cast stone frieze and parapet are particularly fine. The frieze incorporates both a Gothic Revival triforium and an Art Deco zigzag … Read more
This large Moderne style bakery is two stories in height with a veneer of buff brick. Ground floor plate-glass windows display gleaming automated ovens and conveyor belts. Designed by the firm of Wyatt C. Hedrick and constructed by Quisle & Andrews at a cost of $300,000, the bakery has been a Fort Worth landmark since … Read more
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, … Read more
The Texas & Pacific Railroad played a central role in Fort Worth’s development, from the establishment of the city’s first rail line in 1876 to the peak years of train service during World War II. Fort Worth’s growth in the oil-boom years of the 1920s outstripped its transportation facilities. Beginning in 1928, Texas & Pacific … Read more
Dominating the low skyline of the West Side, the Will Rogers Auditorium, Coliseum and Pioneer Tower symbolize Fort Worth’s civic pride in the midst of the Depression. Hurriedly promoted by Amon Carter, Sr. in 1935 for the upcoming 1936 Texas Centennial celebration, the structures and grounds were built with federal city relief funds at a … Read more
314-316 Main Street, Western Union Telegraph Building, 1930-31. The Western Union Telegraph Building, constructed in 1930-31, is a fine example of commercial Art Deco architecture, featuring polychrome terra cotta courses with a zigzag motif, a stepped parapet, and decorative brickwork. Even though the structure is only three stories tall, recessed window panels and piers that … Read more
601 Main Street [NR/CFW/Sky(NR)], Blackstone Hotel, 1929; 1952-53. One of Fort Worth’s great hotels from the boom years of the 1920s, the Blackstone Hotel’s stepped and spired silhouette has been a prominent part of the city’s skyline since 1929. Designed by the nationally known firm of Mauran, Russell, and Crowell in association with Fort Worth … Read more
1101-1113 Jennings Avenue, Auto Home Garage and Midland Manufacturing Co., 1931. The front façade of this building was reconstructed in 1931 after the portion of Jennings Ave. on which it was fronted was widened. At that time the building was occupied by the Auto Home Garage and the Midland Manufacturing Co., which made pumping machinery … Read more