Benbrook Historical Background
The ability of the City of Benbrook to shape its future is intimately tied to its past. Prior transportation and land subdivision actions profoundly affect the ability to make future land use decisions by establishing the framework within which future development can take place. Prior economic activity tends to direct future economic activity along associated lines. Prior planning activities, whether implemented or not, also continue to influence land use decisions directly or indirectly.
Prior to the arrival of Anglo settlers, large herds of buffalo and members of the Wichita, Caddo, Comanche and Lipan Apache Indian tribes roamed the Benbrook area. Archeologists estimate that the area has been inhabited for some 11,000 years.1 Indian communities look for the same environmental factors as present communities, with the availability of an adequate water supply being a primary consideration. Undoubtedly, the confluence of the Clear Fork-Trinity River and Mary's Creek provided such a watering place to tribes as they passed through the area on hunting expeditions.
As a community, Benbrook is one of the oldest in Tarrant County. But as an incorporated City, it is one of the youngest.
Anglos originally settled the Benbrook area, part of the Peters' Colony established by the Republic of Texas, in the 1850s. W.S. Peters of Kentucky was granted a contract to attract 250 families per year by offering 320 acres free to family men and 160 acres to single immigrants, plus a free cabin, seed and musket balls.2 S. Edward and Nancy Willburn of Missouri reportedly came to the area in 1843 as Family 107 of the Peters' Colony, then settling along Mary's Creek near Benbrook in 1854s.3 A "Mary's Creek Post Office" was established sometime during the 1850s or 1860s, with Benjamin Richerson serving as Postmaster.4 Lemuel Edwards settled along the Clear Fork near present day Hulen Street in 1848, with land holdings that eventually covered 4,020 acres by 1955.5
A 20-foot by 20-foot single-room school building and Methodist Church was built in 1857 near the Clear Fork by Edward Willburn. The structure was apparently made on concrete and had a dirt floor, but the structure apparently collapsed from poor construction materials in 1865.6 Classes had apparently ceased during the Civil War.7 A new school and church known as "Old Rawhide" was built of lumber in 1872 by the Chapman, Edwards, Ward, Majors, and Willburn families. Newspaper accounts indicate 27 students in 1877 and 48 students in 1879.8 This building reportedly burned down in 1879. The school was re-established near the corner of the present Mercedes Street and Winscott Road and was called the Miranda (or Marinda) School (or "Marinda Academy" 9) named after one of the Willburn children, Mrs. Merinda Snyder, who donated five acres of land to the "Marinda Seminary School Community" for the school.10 The site reportedly included a cemetery11 which probably was the beginning of the present Benbrook Cemetery which was established in 1885.12 The building continued to double as the Methodist Church. The community was known by the name of the school during its early years. A post office was established at Benbrook in 1880.13
Just three years later, the Marinda school (and Church) was relocated again to the intersection of Winscott Road and Old Benbrook Road (where the present day Computalog building is located.), again on land donated by Mrs. Marinda Snyder.14 The Benbrook Common School District No. 58 was established in 1884. The school was renamed Benbrook School in 188515 and residents became the first district in Tarrant County to vote for a school tax.16 The school had 64 student by 1905.17
A branch of the "Old Chisholm Trail" apparently passed through the area, crossing Mary's Creek at Old Rawhide Crossing in the area of the present Z.Boaz Park, and served as a route to avoid the main trail route through downtown Fort Worth. A branch trail, known the Long Trail or Cleburne Cut-Off, extended from Raw Hide Crossing to Cleburne and shortened the trip by 13 miles.18 The Butterfield Stage Line followed the Old Chisholm Trail and was headquartered in Bowie, Texas.19 An old water well used to water the horses was located on the Coder farm. The Fort Worth-El Paso Mail Route Stage Line also ran along Mary's Creek on its way west (1876-1881), and was reportedly robbed several times in the vicinity of Miranda. A gang known as the "Bold Banditti" (including Sam Bass) was responsible for many of these crimes and they often took refuge in "Hell's Half Acre" on what is now the site of the Tarrant County Convention Center in downtown Fort Worth. Bass reported robbed the Cleburne-Fort Worth stage at Mary's Creek on November 1877 and the Weatherford-Fort Worth stage on January 26, 1878.20 Fleming (Slim) Doggett robbed the Granbury Stage near Benbrook, and was later slain by Texas Rangers on the H.C. Stephens farm.21
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Figure 1. James M. Benbrook |
In 1876, local resident James M. Benbrook petitioned the Texas & Pacific Railroad to place a station along Mary's Creek near Miranda as the railroad ran west out of Fort Worth. The line was completed to Benbrook in May 188022 and the station was named after Benbrook Station by the railroad. In May 1893, James Benbrook sold the Texas and Pacific Railroad a half-acre for use as a depot for $25.00.23 During the 1890s, two trains a day stopped in Benbrook.24 Just like the stage line, the railroad was an easy target for thieves, particularly at the wooden trestle bridge over Mary's Creek. In 1886, Congressman S.W.T. Lanham (later to be elected as Governor) was a victim of a robbery near Benbrook while traveling from Weatherford to Fort Worth to give a speech on prohibition.25 The train was robbed by five men in June 188726 and again in September 188727, both of which were attributed to the Rueben and James Burrows gang who later bragged about train robberies he pulled in "Bend Brooke(sic)"28. A robbery in 1896 in broad daylight, allegedly by Eugene "Captain Dick" Bunch29, was one of the last such robberies in Texas.30 A total of $40,000 was reportedly stolen.31
The Peter Boaz family arrived in Birdville from Kentucky in 1873 and the family subsequently moved to Benbrook in 1878. Among Peter and Martha's nine children were Will N. Boaz, Hiram Abiff Boaz, Ex Boaz and Z Boaz. Hiram Boaz reportedly converted at one of the Old Rawhide Camp Meetings32, became one of the early leaders of the Methodist Church in Benbrook and subsequently became a Methodist Bishop in 1922 and president of both Polytechnic College in Fort Worth (later known as Texas Wesleyan) and Southern Methodist University in Dallas33. After Peter Boaz's death in 1882, his widow married James M. Benbrook. J.A. Childers, ranch foreman for W.J. Boaz's 3,000-acre ranch, and later constable and county commissioner, built his home on Old Benbrook Road during the 1870s.34 Z Boaz donated 136 acres of land to the City of Fort Worth as a public park in 1928, only because Benbrook did not have a municipal government or park department at that time. Z Boaz died in 1935 and is buried in the Benbrook Cemetery along with his wife, Teck who died in 1970, and an infant son, Thank, who died in 1898.35
The Benbrook family had arrived in the Miranda area in 1874 from Illinois. The family built a large Victorian house on Walnut Creek east of the community in 1891. James Benbrook was known as "Squire" because of his English heritage and served as Justice of the Peace for many years.36 James M. Benbrook was born in Posey County, Indiana on June 20, 1831. He was the grandson of Ezekial G. Benbrook, born in North Carolina in 174837 and who reportedly served as a Colonel with George Washington in Valley Forge. Ezekial's son James and his wife Sarah Shadowen were the parents of James M. Benbrook.38 The family moved to Hamilton County, Illinois in 1845, and he married Martha Metcalf in 1852. James fought as a sergeant with the 40th Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War and was wounded in the hip in 1862. Following the War, Benbrook and his family traveled south for his health, finally settling in Miranda in November 1876.39 In 1891, they built a large two-story Victorian house near Walnut Creek. James and Martha had six children, three of which died in infancy. The other three children included Albert L. who became a teacher, Monroe who went into the furniture business in Dallas, and Ida who married Dr. E.W. Snyder and moved to Brownwood. Martha died in July 1884 and was buried by the Baptist Church (James was a Methodist). James later married Mrs. L.A. Boaz, widow of Peter Boaz. James Benbrook was active in politics during his life, serving as constable in Illinois and as Justice of the Peace while in Benbrook. He died on February 18, 1907.40
The families that lived north of the railroad along Mary's Creek also built a school and church, known as Chapin School41, after early settler I.H. Chapin. The Wallace's settled along Mary's Creek near the intersection of Chapin Road and Chapin School Road.42 The property was later purchased by Arch Rowan, president of Rowan & Nichols Oil Co.
Several family cemeteries were established in 1867. The Willburn Cemetery remains at 3720 Streamwood Road in what is now Ridglea Country Club Estates. The Willburn cemetery contains about 15 graves43 with burials from 1867 to 1924.44 The Burke Cemetery is located just outside the city limit on Bryant-Irvin Road.45 The Jackson Cemetery is located on the north side of Chapin Road adjacent to Leonard Middle School.46 In 1885, the Benbrook Cemetery was established with James M. Benbrook as one of the original trustees. Graves from the Hunter, Day, January and Mustang cemeteries were moved to the site in 1947 to avoid inundation by Benbrook Lake and the Howard Cemetery was relocated from the Wedgwood area in 1955. James M. Benbrook's grave in the Benbrook Cemetery is designated with an Official Texas Historical Marker.47
By the turn of the Century, some of the initial transportation routes were established that continue in use today, as shown on a U.S. Geological Survey map from 1894. The Texas and Pacific Railroad line is now operated by Union Pacific and travels along Mary's and Walnut Creeks. A rail accident at the Mary's Creek trestle reportedly sent 18 cattle cars into the creek in 1902 or 1903.48 The main settlement of Benbrook, located within a four-block area around the railroad station, was located near the present junction of Interstate Highway 20 and U.S. Highway 377 along Aledo Road. The settlement was reached from the east along the present Old Benbrook Road and Stove Foundry Road (now known as Vickery). Winscott-Plover Road extended south along its present route to Dutch Branch, now submerged by Benbrook Lake. A road extended east from Winscott-Plover Road near the present Mercedes Street to cross the Clear Fork. Remnants of this county road are still evident on undeveloped land north of Timber Creek.
In 1900, the Moore house and farm was established south of Chapin Road near the present Loop 820.49 The property is currently being used as a stables.
Winscott Road is named for early Fort Worth rancher, developer and hotel owner Winfield Scott (no relation to the famous general of the same name.) Scott was born in Kentucky in 1848 and moved to Tarrant County in 1868. The Winfield Scott Ranch covered over 12,000 acres in Tarrant, Johnson and Parker Counties.50 The ranch manager's house was apparently moved when Benbrook Lake was constructed and is now located on Winscott-Plover Road south of Benbrook Lake. Scott built and/or owned several hotels and businesses in Fort Worth and constructed Thistle Hill as his private residence.
A new two-room brick school building was constructed in 1912 to replace the previous building at the intersection of Old Benbrook Road and Winscott Road.51 The $3,000 construction cost was financed by bonds.52 In 1918, a second teacher was added. The school building was severely damaged by wind storms in both 1913 and 1923.53 This building was replaced again at the same location by a larger four-room structure of flagstone in 1936, plus a larger gymnasium and stage.54 In fact, a portion of the original gymnasium has been incorporated into the Computalog industrial facility. The $15,000 building was also financed by bonds and was built by V.A. Davis, who resigned from the school board to bid on the project, while landscaping was done by the Works Progress Administration.55 Even with the larger building, some students had to be taught in the basement of the Methodist Church next door.56
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