History of Benbrook Continued
Early during World War I, General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing invited the Royal Canadian Flying Corps to establish its training fields in Texas because of its mild weather.57 After looking at sites in Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco, Austin, Wichita Falls and Midland, three sites were established in 1917 in the Fort Worth vicinity; one each in North Fort Worth, Everman and Benbrook (known as the 'Flying Triangle.') The Royal Flying Corps used the fields from October 1917 to April 1918, when they were turned over to the U.S. Army.58 Taliafero Field No. 3, later renamed Carruthers Field59 (after Cadet W.K. Carruthers who was killed on June 18, 191760) was located south of Mercedes Street in what is now Benbrook Lakeside subdivision. Most of the 34 buildings and hangers61 were located in an area generally bounded by Mercedes Street on the north, Winscott Road on the east, Cozby North Street on the south, and Walnut Creek on the west. A railroad spur connected with the Texas & Pacific line across Walnut Creek. When the U.S. entered the war, the field was renamed Benbrook Field and served to train American pilots as well.
 |
|
Figure 2. Vernon Castle |
The most famous casualty was Vernon W. Blyth Castle ("Castle" being a stage name), part of the famous Vernon and Irene Castle dance team who introduced the tango to the U.S. in 1913.62Captain Castle, recipient of the French Croix de Guerre for his combat missions over Germany and Commander of the 84th Canadian Training Squadron, Royal Flying Corps63, was killed on February 15,1918 while avoiding another airplane that was landing.64 Mrs. Castle was in Washington at the time. The funeral for Castle was reportedly one the largest held in Fort Worth and drew national attention. Castle's body was taken to New York for burial.65 The training field and its buildings were razed in the 1920s.66 A memorial for Vernon Castle was erected in 1966 at the crash site near the corner of Vernon Castle Avenue and Cozby West Street67, and included a replica of a Curtis Jenny and photographs of Castle and the airfield68 which were later stolen. The monument was restored by Eagle Scout Jerret Martin and rededicated in 1997.69 The only remaining building is an ammunition warehouse west of U.S. 377, though the foundations of several building can be found behind some of the homes along Cozby North Street. The City contacted the National Archives, the Defense Department and Texas State Library to find original plans for the airfield, but to no avail.70 Following the closure of Benbrook Field, the land was purchased by William Monnig and was used as a dairy. The dairy was later purchased by Manning Trammell, and then by Mrs. Grace Cozby.71
In 1916, the route of present-day Spur 580 was originally part of the Fort Worth-Mineral Wells Highway. It was later designated by the State of Texas in 1918 as part of the Texarkana, Dallas, Fort Worth and El Paso Highway (later built as State Highway 1). One year later, the route was included as part of the Bankhead Highway by the Bankhead Highway Association, a private association that promoted the building of a good road from Atlanta to California across the southern United States.72 The route later became U.S. 80, part of the Federal Aid Highway system.
Benbrook's population was estimated to be 33 people in both 1920 and 1930 and the community had two stores. Other nearby communities in the 1930s included Chapin (25 voters), Wheatland (population of 40 and a school), Plover, and Primrose. One of the earliest buildings remaining in Benbrook is the Eddie Brustrum House at 8204 Old Benbrook Road, which was originally constructed about 1891 as the Methodist parsonage.73 The Corn House in far southwest Benbrook (11555 Highway 377 South) was built about 1919 by James Corn, a rancher who owned more than 55,000 acres.74 John Stevens, for whom Stevens Road is named, was foreman on the Corn Ranch. M.N. Wallace purchased the "old Benbrook Home" property along Old Benbrook Road in 1921 and built two rock houses. The M.N. Wallace house at 8216 Old Benbrook Road was built in 1921. The Frank E. Wallace house is located at 8212 Old Benbrook Road and constructed in 1923. Frank E. Wallace was co-owner with M.N. Wallace of Benbrook's general store, from 1936 to 1941 when it was sold. F.E. Wallace also ran the post office with M.N. Wallace serving as mail carrier.75 The N.E. Wallace house at 8216 Old Benbrook Road was torn down in 1986. The American Legion Paul Mansir Post 297 nearby at 8201 Old Benbrook Road originally was constructed in 1933 as the Benbrook Church of Christ. Stoneworker P.A. King of Aledo reportedly supervised construction.76 The one-lane Mary's Creek bridge was constructed in 1922 by the County77, and removed by the Texas Department of Transportation in 1993 to make room for a larger bridge.
|
|
|
Figure 3. Benbrook Methodist
Church, circa 1950. |
The Methodist Church built a new building from 1929 to 1931, in Greek Revival style, with funding from members and from rancher Cass Edwards, who felt the Building Committee's original plans were too small.78 The building had a sanctuary upstairs and classrooms in the basement and its own electric light plant. Bishop H.A. Boaz officiated at the opening with Rev. Floyd Thrash serving as pastor.79 The building was later used by the Benbrook Pentecostal Baptist Church80 when the Methodists moved to a new location on Bryant Street in 1957. The Baptists and two other congregations met in a building erected on a one-acre plot donated by Z Boaz.81 Many imposing homes were built in the area during the 1930s by such people as Elliot Roosevelt (son of then President Roosevelt), Ellison Harding (president of Fort Worth National Bank), and Ed Sproles (head of Texas Motor Truck Transport Company).82 The population had grown to 161 people by 1935. The Elliott Roosevelt home was in the area of what is now the east side of Lake Benbrook, near St. Francis Village.83 The Sproles House was constructed in 1934 and served as the center of a large cattle ranch, much of which was submerged by Benbrook Lake in 1947.84 Most of the house and outbuildings remain near the intersection of Sproles Drive and U.S. 377. The current owners, Jerry and Ann Dittrich won an award from the Historic Preservation Council for Tarrant County in 1996 for their restoration efforts.
Roosevelt's Dutch Branch Ranch covered approximately 1,300 acres in the Benbrook area with the ranch house located off of Old Granbury Road (West Cleburne Road) on the east of what is now Benbrook Lake. The ranch was purchased in 1935 by Elliott's wife, Ruth Goggins Roosevelt, and served as Elliot's home while he was president of the Texas State (radio) Network. President Franklin Roosevelt visited his son at the ranch on four occasions from 1936 to 1944.85 The Roosevelts sold the ranch in 1944 and Fort Worth oilman Sid W. Richardson later purchased it in 1946. Much of the ranch was condemned by the U.S. Government for construction of Benbrook Lake in 1947. In contrast to the opulent homes built during the 1930s, a "Hooverville" shantytown was reported in the vicinity of Benbrook in 1933 during the Great Depression.
By the 1940s, most of the non-highway road network was maintained by Tarrant County. Old Benbrook Road/Aledo Road was County Road 1024. Winscott-Plover Road was County Road 1042 and Sproles Road was County Road 1048. Mercedes Street was County Road 1046 and Chapin Road was County Road 1040. U.S. 377 and U.S. 80 were constructed, as was R.M. 2871, though it was apparently designated as F.M. 287 at the time. Williams Road was present as well. On the other hand, the Benbrook Railroad Station was apparently closed and was torn down during the 1940s.86 Lee Harvey Oswald apparently began his schooling in Benbrook, but moved shortly thereafter in 1946.87 A volunteer fire department was organized in 1949.88
By 1940, the Benbrook community had grown to 100 people and three stores. Fort Worth donated land to the federal government that same year for the construction of a bomber plant to be operated by Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Company89 (Convair; later renamed General Dynamics then Lockheed Martin). The plant began construction on April 18, 1941 and the first B-24 "Liberator" bomber rolled off the assembly line in April 1942.90 The Tarrant Air Drome (later renamed Carswell Air Force Base in 1948) was established at the same time.
In May 1947, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of Benbrook Dam on the Clear Fork.91 Authorized by the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1945, the dam was designed to prevent flooding such as the major floods in 1922, 1947 and 1949. The May 1949 flood killed 10 people and left over 13,000 people homeless in Fort Worth following 10 inches of rain in 12 hours.92 Benbrook Dam was completed in December 1950 and began impounding water in 1952.
|
|
|
Figure 4. Benbrook Volunteers
Assisting Fort Worth Flood Victims, 1949. |
Benbrook Estates subdivision (which includes Del Rio Avenue, Goliad Street, and San Angelo Avenue to Mercedes Street) was platted in 1946. Lots were typically 70 feet by 170 feet.
On November 17th, 1947, the residents voted 25 to 0 to incorporate as a Village.93 The total area included in the new city was 13.3 square miles, including area east of the Clear Fork in what is now the CityView development and areas west of Loop 820 and north of Walnut Creek. The first mayor was Ed Sproles and first aldermen included Mrs. Grace Cozby, J.A. Childers, W.J. Nolte, M.N. Wallace and D.I. Sessums. Earl Cleveland was elected city marshall-tax collector. One of the new Village's first actions (Ordinance Number 2) was to create a Planning and Zoning Commission in August 1948, with the duty to recommend a master plan and zoning ordinance. The first zoning ordinance (Number 20) was adopted in March 1951 and created a single zoning district for "A" One Family. Lots were required to be 20,000 square feet and dwellings were required to be 1,000 square feet in size. The Benbrook Volunteer Fire Department was also organized and Jim Childers served as the first fire chief.
The City also began addressing the need for water supply. Initially, homes were supplied by individual water wells. In 1949, the Worth Water Company was granted a 25-year franchise to install and operate a water system to serve the Village. The Benbrook Water and Sewer Authority was created in April 1955 by the Texas Legislature and assumed the assets of the Worth Water Company.
In 1940, beer and liquor sales were approved in the Benbrook area by a one-vote margin94, alcohol sales were legal when Benbrook incorporated. The City Council passed an Ordinance (No. 4) to prohibit the sale of alcohol through the City, except for the sale of beer along U.S. 377 from the railroad tracks to Mercedes Street. This ordinance was validated by a local option election in November 1949, where citizens voted to prohibit sales of beer and liquor by a vote of 35 to 32.95 In July 1954, a local option election was held to permit the sale of all alcoholic beverages for off-premise consumption only, but this was defeated by a vote of 95 to 50. In May 1971, Tarrant County held a local option election covering Justice of the Peace District No. 6, which included Benbrook, White Settlement, Westover Hills, Westworth Village and portions of western Fort Worth that approved the sale of mixed drinks by 3,149 to 1,075. White Settlement and Westworth Village immediately held local option elections to prohibit the sale of mixed drinks. In June 1971, Benbrook held an election that prohibited all alcohol sales, except for beer for off-premise consumption, by a vote of 507 to 376.96
By 1950, the new City had three stores and 617 residents. The Dunlap Addition on Llano Street was platted in 1949. The Benbrook Lakeside Addition was platted in 1950 on the site of the old Benbrook Air Field, with typical lots of 225 feet by 225 feet. This was in the spirit of Frank Lloyd Wright's ideal subdivision where everyone owned an acre of land. However, to stimulate sales the subdivision was replatted within a few years to 75 by 225 foot and 75 by 150 foot lots and homes were sold for about $8,500. At about the same time in 1950, North Benbrook Addition was platted into lots 50 by 100 foot in size. The lots along Chapin Road were replatted about ten years later into larger lots. A new City Hall and fire station was built on Del Rio Avenue, just off U.S. 377, in 1951. In 1953, the City disannexed about 1.5 square miles in the future Westpark area. The City adopted its first subdivision ordinance (Number 74) in August 1955, which required developers to dedicate and construct adequate street and drainage facilities. The First Baptist Church of Benbrook was organized in August 1954.97 The Benbrook Methodist Church moved to its present location in 1956.98
In 1951, by a two-vote margin, the City voted to outlaw taverns. The Benbrook School building was abandoned and moved to its present location on Mercedes Street in 1953, on land donated by Mrs. Grace Cozby and Duane Johnson.99 Construction was funded by school improvement bonds and a Federal grant received because of the large number of Defense plant workers.100 After 1954, students above the sixth grade attended Fort Worth Schools and Fort Worth ISD began charging $10 per month tuition.101 Reports show that there were 244 such students in 1957. The 1950s also saw competition over limited tax funds, with the Volunteer Fire Department wanting a share of funds while the City said that the Village would operate the Fire Department as created under Ordinance 18.102 Mayor Wade Malone noted that franchise fees were collected Texas Electric Service Company, Lone Star Gas Company, and Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, but the village was not collecting any revenue from the Worth Water Company.
By 1957, aerial photograph reveals that most of the houses were located on Del Rio, San Saba, Bandera, and San Angelo Streets in Benbrook Estates, though almost an equal number of 45 homes were located on Wade Hampton Street. Other streets present included Cozby North, Childers, Vernon Castle, McKinley, Davidson, Bryant, Usher, Warden and Park Center, but most of these were not paved and there were not more than a total of ten houses on all of these streets combined.
Benbrook had long been charged with operating a "speed trap" on U.S. 377, a charge that apparently never has been substantiated. In 1959, two residents of Brownwood and Fort Worth erected billboards urging motorists to avoid Benbrook's "vicious speed trap" by using U.S. 67 through Cleburne. It was alleged that some 200 Brown County residents had been ticketed in a period of a few months. Interestingly, a reporter from the Brownwood Citizen's Journal investigated the claims and found them baseless.103
The census of 1960 indicates that Benbrook has grown to 3,254 people. In 1961, the Texas Education Agency performed a study of the costs of building a Junior/Senior High School to educate Benbrook students.104 They estimated the construction cost at $5,000,000 and $75,000 of local funds to operate, which would require a tax increase of 240%. The Benbrook Common School District No. 58 became part of the Fort Worth Independent School District in 1962.105 The Chapin school district also merged with Fort Worth at this time.106 In 1968, the City disannexed approximately 1.7 square miles, including land in what is now CityView and land west of the future Loop 820. The first City Plan was prepared in 1969 along with the first Capital Improvements Program. The Comprehensive Plan (prepared by Parker-Croston Associates) projected the future population of Benbrook to be 24,700 in 1980 (actual was 13,579) and 52,125 in 1990. The land use plan indicated the vast majority of land as single family residential land, with commercial, industrial, and multi-family limited to very few thoroughfare corridors. The 1969 Capital Improvements Program proposed a total of nearly $4 million in street and drainage projects and would have rebuilt most of the residential streets then in existence and provided drainage facilities to control most flooding in the City, but the bond election failed.
By 1970, the City had grown to 8,169 people. In 1972, the city staff had grown to 31 employees under the direction of City Administrator H.W. Jett.107 A new City Hall was built in 1976 on the corner of Winscott Road and Mercedes Street. In 1977, the City updated its Comprehensive Plan in a series of three reports, including Land Use Studies, a Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan, and a Housing Element. The 1977 Plan projected the 1980 population to be 14,364 (actual was 13,579) and projected 1990 population to be 26,761. The plan proposed a mix of land uses which does not differ substantially from the currently adopted Plan, with the exception that the area south of Mary's Creek and west of U.S. 377 was proposed for single family residential. The Park Plan proposed a series of nine new neighborhood parks, along with protection of flood plains and existing parks, and construction of a recreation facility/library. A proposed bond issue for the recreation facility failed in 1978, but bonds for a new fire station and streets were approved. A revised bond issue for drainage was approved in 1979. The Housing Element stressed conservation and rehabilitation of older stock housing.
State Law allows cities over 5,000 population to elect to have a home rule charter that provides much more flexibility and authority of municipal government. Benbrook's first Home Rule Chapter Commission was appointed in April 1975 to draft a charter, but the proposition failed on the ballot in January 1977. A second Charter Commission was appointed in April 1977, but the measured failed again in August 1978. A third Commission was elected in April 1982, and the Charter finally passed in April 1983.108
In 1980, the City had a total population of 13,579 people. A $4.1 million bond issue for streets and drainage was defeated in 1980. A possible tornado and hail damaged numerous homes and businesses in May 1981.109 Loop 820 was completed from Hulen Street to U.S. 377 in 1981, while the remainder opened in 1982. In 1981, an election to merge the City with the Benbrook Water & Sewer Authority failed.110 The City experienced a tremendous building boom between 1974 and 1985, with a 90 percent increase in the number of single family houses built and a 40-fold increase in the number of multifamily dwelling units built. A bond election in 1985 approved funds for a police station, streets and drainage improvements. However, building activity had slowed considerably in the last half of the 1980s. The Benbrook Area Chamber of Commerce was created in 1986.111 In January 1989, the voters turned down a bond election for streets, drainage and a library. Voters also defeated use of a 1/2-cent sales tax for a library in May 1992.
By 1990, the City's population had reached 19,564 and the number of businesses had grown to over 400. However, the large majority of workers in Benbrook worked elsewhere. In 1991, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission recommended the closure of Carswell Air Force Base and realignment as a Naval Reserve Center. The Air Force Base officially closed in December 1993. In March 1993, Lockheed Corporation purchased the General Dynamics Aircraft Plant. In September 1997, voters approved a $8 million bond issue for streets, drainage, and an indoor community recreation center. Also in 1997, the community constructed the Castle Park Playground using volunteer labor and donated materials.112
References |