At the beginning of the 1940s, the population of Fort Worth was around 177,662, and the city was thriving. During World War II, the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation’s factory (known as the “Bomber Plant”) for the production of B-24 Liberator bombers brought the city out of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Newcomers flocked to the city to take advantage of the well-paying assembly line jobs offered at the Bomber Plant. During the war, women were given new opportunities to enter the workforce; in 1942, 23 percent of Bomber Plant employees were women. Fort Worth’s partnership with the U.S. military was cemented by the Bomber Plant and Tarrant Field Airdrome, which became Carswell Air Force Base in 1948. Fort Worth expanded both economically and population-wise in the following decades.
Here are some stunning historical photos that show Fort Worth in the 1940s.
#1 St. Ignatius Academy, first Catholic school in the area, 1944
#2 Swift & Co., Fort Worth stockyards, people disembarking from street cars and climbing stairway to meat packing plants, 1940s.
#3 Aerial photo of 1949 flood in Fort Worth showing Trinity River overflowing its banks, 7th St., and Montgomery Ward building, 1949
#4 Aerial view of the 1949 flood showing the 7th Street bridge and the Montgomery Ward building, Fort Worth, Texas, 1949
#5 Bowie Boulevard Drive-in Movie Theatre, Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, Texas, 1941
#6 Flood scene at the Vergal Bourland Home Appliance store, 1949
#7 Fort Worth Cats vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 1946
The Fort Worth Cats, a minor league affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers, are hosting the St. Louis Cardinals. In the top of the sixth inning the Cardinals' star player, Stan Musial (6) attempted a steal of second. Musial is shown sliding feet first into the bag as the throw from Cat catcher George Pfister bounces away from shortstop Barney White.
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#8 Unvieiling of Will Rogers Statue, 1947
#9 Airview of Farrington Field and football game between Highland Park and Wichita Falls, 1945
#10 The air views of first section of North-South expressway, 1947
#11 Buildings at Main Street looking North from 9th Street, Fort Worth, Texas, 1945
#12 Downtown Fort Worth, Texas, West 7th Street looking east, 1940
#13 Highway U.S. 80 (Dallas Pike) between Fort Worth and Arlington near Handley, 1947
#14 An aerial view of Fort Worth stockyards and Swift meat packing company, 1945
#15 An aerial view of Fort Worth Stockyards, Armour & Company and Swift Company, 1945
#16 The Arlington Heights landmark demolition of a 75 foot incinerator, 1948
#17 The Arlington Heights landmark demolition of a 75 foot incinerator, 1948
#18 Carver Health Center, 1946
(George Washington) Carver Health Center for Negroes," established in January 1946, located at 506 Jones Street in Fort Worth, Texas. The building was originally built in 1913-1914 as the "Emergency Hospital" which later became the City-County Hospital. This building continued as City-County Hospital until 1939, when a new building for the City-County Hospital opened on July 16, 1939, known today as John Peter Smith Hospital. The Carver Health Center operated in the basement of the building.
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#19 Forest Park Zoo Monkey Mountain under construction, 1948
#20 Exterior views of the cottage at 605 West First Street, Fort Worth, Texas owned by Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Keller, 1944
Although it was the second house in the neighborhood and has been lived in continuously for 64 years, the little cottage at 605 W. First Street is still doing duty for its owners. Keller built the house in 1880 on property bought 90 years ago by Mrs. Keller's father, Charles Turner. The family lived in it until about 1908, when it was moved from the original location on Second to the north side of the block facing First, to make space for the 12-room home the Kellers now occupy. The smaller place now is a rent house. The house is of frame construction and has seven rooms, connected by old-fashioned folding doors. Originally it was situated in the middle of the 200-foot-square lot. Now it's set close to the street, the larger home being directly behind it. Four generations have lived in the cottage including the Keller buggies, carriages, and wagons to Fort Worth. n, November 16, 1944.
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#21 Exit views of the old Farmers and Mechanics National Building at 14th and Main Street, Fort Worth, 1944
The building was built in 1889 and was once the city's skyscraper. When Col. John R. Hoxie, wealthy business man who established the Fort Worth Stockyards Company and the Fort Worth Packing House, came here from Chicago the southern end of Main Street was flourishing. To situate the bank he founded in an up-and-coming section, he bought property on what then was South Main and constructed the most modern building the town had seen. He remained in Fort Worth as the bank's president until 1894, when J. W. Spencer succeeded him. About 1900 the Farmers and Mechanics Bank moved to Seventh and Main. It remained there until 1918, when it merged with the American National Bank and moved, still as the Farmers and Mechanics National to the American National temporary headquarters at Fifth and Main. Shortly afterward, the Union Gospel Mission purchase the original Farmers and Mechanics building and used it until 1941, when Anderson bought it.
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#22 Historic Fort Worth buildings, 1200 West Presidio Street, 1944
It was built in 1890. Mrs. Bailey has made the most of the unusual architectural features and floor plan in converting it into an attractive home-studio. On the corner lot, the home consists of two large rooms, one upstairs and one directly beneath it, formerly used as a stable and carriage room. Upstairs four alcoves, with built-in beds in the walls of each, open off the main room. From this queer arrangement Mrs. Bailey has made several bedrooms, a parlor, library, sunroom, kitchen, dining room and studio. She is particularly proud of the polished rosewood and walnut woodwork and the exquisitely carved walnut mantel which won first place in its class in the Chicago Exposition in 1893. Although it has attracted as much attention as any house in Fort Worth, there is still some controversy over the name of the builder and his reason for constructing such a home. Some even believe the legend that an eccentric sea captain modeled the house after his lost schooner.
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#23 The Holstein cattle on the G. R. Fain farm near Plainview graze peacefully and contentedly on an irrigated pasture which Fain has put in to keep up his milk production, 1949
#24 Side view of the Plastelite Engineering Company building after flood, 1949
#25 The new home of Doctor and Mrs. M. J. Bisco is at 2425 Colonial Parkway, Fort Worth, Texas, 1942
It is a huge two-story brick house with a portico, chimney and three dormers. The property sits on a small hill. There are steps to reach a landing in the yard and half of the front yard is inclined at an angle. The driveway on the left leads to a two-car garage at the back. There is a car parked in the garage.
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#26 Bewley Building, 1946
#27 Aerial view of west Fort Worth homes between Seventh Street and White Settlement Road near Bailey, 1945
#28 Front view of the new Crestwood Elementary School facing the White Settlement Road at the intersection of Bailey Avenue, 1944
The structure was completed during the summer. This is one story long building made of bricks, and has many windows. It contains eight classrooms, library, kindergarten room, office, health unit, book room, teachers' lounge, and a combination auditorium and cafeteria. Five acres of landscaped playgrounds surround the building. The school will be open for the first time to Fort Worth school children September 12.
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#29 City’s smaller industries: Hicks Rubber & Salvage Company, 1946
#30 Mrs. C. H. Bertram, shown sitting at an umbrella-protected table in her “outdoor living room,” which is surrounded with flowerbeds and hedges, 1940
#31 Exterior view of Wichita Avenue Methodist Church at Knox and Wichita street, Fort Worth, Texas, 1946
#32 Corporal James E. Newman funeral, 1945
The flag-draped gray casket, bearing the body of Corporal (Corp.) James E. Newman, Japanese prison victim, is carried from First Baptist Church, where funeral services were conducted Monday afternoon, by an honor guard of six soldiers from Fort Worth Army Air Field.
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#33 Army Day Parade at downtown Fort Worth. Crack troops of the 155th Infantry Regiment, 31st Division, paraded downtown Fort Worth Monday morning between crowd-lined sidewalks, 1942
Shown here is part of the 297 military vehicles in the parade, which included peeps, jeeps, mobile artillery, motorized machine gun details, ambulances and antiaircraft units. The pavement is glistening from the rain. Jeeps are driving down the road in two neat rows. Most spectators are braving the rain and standing on the periphery of the street, although a few are peeking from underneath the awnings. Several downtown buildings with their storefront signs can be seen.
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#34 Army Day Maneuvers: Pup Tents, 1942
The 155th Infantry of the 31st Division came into their bivouac area around Farrington Field Saturday afternoon to help in Fort Worth's Army Day celebration Monday. Pup tents of the regiment are pitched under trees on the west side of the entrance to the stadium parking area.
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#35 Bob Hope golf match, 1949
Bob Hope golf match. Packed aboard this motor-scooter at the River Crest Country Club Sunday afternoon during the a Milk and Ice Fund benefit match between Bob Hope, Byron Nelson, Raymond Gafford and Jimmy Nichols, were, left to right, David Butler of Hollywood, Mrs. Gaylord H. Chizum, Bob Hope, Mrs. Lee H. Armer, and Mrs. Robert K. Hanger.
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#36 The new home of J. B. Baker Junior is at 1801 Bolton Street, Fort Worth, Texas, 1942
The stone house has a bay window and two symmetrical large windows in the front. The house features a large screened sun room to the left of the house. It has a very large yard. In the background is a neighboring house undergoing roofing work. There are two men working on the roof.
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#37 Stockyards Strike Ends, 1946
Livestock were back in the pens at the stockyards here Monday and Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) livestock handlers and packing plant employees were off the picket line and on their jobs again after a twelve-day absence. A load of Herefords arrive at the unloading dock as handlers supervise.
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#38 Waste paper collection at Oakhurst Elementary School, 1944
The floor is covered in tall stacks of paper on which the children are sitting. In the foreground, center, are Lawrence and Frances Barkley. In the rear, far right, is Carla Sue Davidson, who collected 1.500 pounds of paper. Others left to right, are Joe Taylor, Bob Hardie and Dennis Conarty.
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#39 Parade through downtown Fort Worth in front of the Worth Hotel to celebrate the movie premier of “The Westerner”1940
#40 Explosion at Convair Employee’s House, 1946
#41 Harry Todd’s long putt for birdie stopped short on No. 18 green Saturday as the huge gallery held its breath, 1946
#42 Crowd around Consolidated Aircraft 30-ton land bomber at Meacham Field, Fort Worth, Texas, 1941
#43 A view of the Fort Worth Army Air Field (FWAAF) on Army Air Forces Day. The air field is pictured early in the day from an air traffic control tower, 1946
#44 Fort Worth National Bank, 1945
#45 Texas Wesleyan College, 1945
#46 Texas Wesleyan College, 1946
#47 Convair workers picket Acme Freight Service, 1946
#48 Parade and Spectators: Football T. C. U. Horned Frogs vs. Texas A&M Aggies, 1941
#49 A college football game between Texas Wesleyan College vs. Trinity University is being held at Farrington Field in Fort Worth, Texas, 1941
#50 Fort Worth Cats Fans, 1946
More than 100 Fort Worth Cats fans lined up along West 5th Street early Wednesday morning when the public sale of tickets opened for the Fort Worth, Texas, portion of the Texas League playoff. Tickets were sold at the Adam Hat Store in downtown Fort Worth, Texas.
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#51 North Side Coliseum, home of the Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show, 1940
#52 Air view of the Rose Garden, Fort Worth, Texas and Botanic Garden, Fort Worth, Texas, covered in snow, 1940
#53 Exterior of Mr. and Mrs. Brooks Morris’ House, 1941
#54 North Side Coliseum during Southwest Exposition & Fat Stock Show, crowds, Fort Worth stockyards, 1942
#55 Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show, 1942
#56 Farm elevator and equipment outside the Traders Cotton Oil Mill Co. plant, 1943
#57 The All American Rodeo and Horse Show Parade in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, 1940
#58 One-Way Traffic, 1944
Downtown vehicular traffic went one-way Monday. Left, a fewi of the northbound traffic on Main at Eighth. Right, Patrolman J. L. Nash at Houston and Seventh warns a morotist that center lanes on the one-way streets are for 'straight-ahead' driving and not for left or right turns. The motorist had started to make a left turn." "Star-Telegram Photo." Published Star-Tel Eve. Sept. 25, 1944. One-way vehicular traffic in downtown Fort Worth, Texas on Main and Eighth Street. There is a bus for Polytechnic High School, a truck, several cars, and a dairy truck at the intersection.
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#59 Interior of Traders Cotton Oil Mill Co, 1943
#60 A cotton oil mill, the foreground appears to be flooded. Exterior of the Traders Cotton Oil Mill Company in Fort Worth, Texas, 1942
#61 Group picture of employees of Traders Cotton Oil Mill Co., 1943
#62 Ladd Furniture and Carpet Company building, where E. A. Larkin plunged to his death, 1941
#63 Ladd Furniture and Carpet Company building, 1941
#64 Exterior view of building at 1012 North Main Street, 1946
This building previously served as the Klavern No. 1 Ku Klux Klan (KKK) hall. In 1927, Leonard's Department Store purchased the building for a warehouse. Since then, the building has been used as a boxing arena and, more recently, by Ellis Pecan Co. There are automobiles on the street.
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#65 1012 North Main Street, 1946
#66 Trees along 2200 block of Huntington, Fort Worth, Texas, 1947
#67 8th Air Force fleet of B-36 bombers parked on tarmac, Carswell Air Force Base, 1948
#68 The exterior of West Side State Bank.1947
#69 Death scene on University Drive.1946
This is a picture of a death scene. At this spot on University Drive, a short distance south of Crestline Road and near a meandering drive to Botanic Garden, the body of Miss Donna Kathleen Zeck, 25, bride-to-be of a Texas Christian University basket ball player, was found early morning. The body was found by Captain Mark R. Stephens, who was driving his car north on University Drive, rushing his wife to a hospital for treatment. Published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram evening edition, October 30, 1946.
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#70 Fort Worth Botanic Garden.1942
#71 Fort Worth Botanic Garden.1942
#72 Charles E. Armstrong residence, 1941
#73 Fort Worth Garden Club, 1940
#74 Aerial view of Farrington Field and the Casa Manana revolving stage, 1947
#75 M.M. Barnes home, 1502 Summit Avenue, Fort Worth; bequeathed to city for a park, originally built by George B. Loving ca. 1880; bought by E.G. Harrold, father of Mrs. Barnes, 1947
#76 Physical training at Arlington Heights High School, 1943
#77 Westbrook Hotel, 4th and Main Street, Fort Worth, 1949
#78 Westbrook Hotel, 4th and Houston, Fort Worth, 1942
#79 Westbrook Hotel at 4th and Main Street, Fort Worth, 1942
#80 Harris Memorial Hospital exterior to entrance, Fort Worth, Texas, 1942
#81 Harris Memorial Hospital lobby, Fort Worth, Texas, 1942
#82 Fort Worth sanitation drive, 1945
Jumping the gun on the city-wide cleanup campaign set or August 12-19, this city street department crew Monday night started washing sidewalks and street in the business district, a service which has been curtailed for some time due to manpower shortages in the department. They will wash the street nightly throughout the summer as part of the city's effort to "clean up the city and keep it clean". Shown washing the sidewalk at 5th and Throckmorton on west side of the 500 block of the latter street are, left to right, Harry Reynolds, street cleaning foreman; Ben S. Ingle and C. D. Duncan, workers; C. C. Allsup, truck driver, in cab, and H. H. Hester, street superintendent, who is standing on running board.
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#83 An aerial of meat packing plants in the Fort Worth Stockyards, 1949
#84 Armour and Swift meat packing plants in the Fort Worth Stockyards, 1940
#85 Crown Machinery and Tool Company, Fort Worth, Texas, 1944
#86 An aerial of flooded neighborhoods, 1949
#87 Fort Worth, Texas flood, 1949.
#88 Base of TV tower at WBAP-TV, 1949
#89 Interior break room at Crown Machine and Tool Company, 2800 W. Lancaster Avenue, Fort Worth, 1944
#90 Star-Telegram horse-drawn delivery wagon supplies downtown salesmen, 1942
#91 Lucky Lady II 8th AF B-50 bomber at Carswell Air Force Base, 1949
#92 502 foot television tower for WBAP-TV, 1948
#93 Aviation building at 7th and Main, downtown Fort Worth – Commercial Standard Insurance Company, Blackstone Hotel on Main St., Palace Theater on 7th St., Ellison Furniture in background on right, 1945
#94 WBAP-TV building and transmitting tower on a knoll in east Fort Worth, Texas, 1948
#95 Dickson-Jenkins Manufacturing Company exterior, 202-208 Saint Louis, Fort Worth, Texas, 1942
#96 Armistice Day parade in front of Hotel Texas, Fort Worth, November 1941
#97 Entrance to the Worth Hotel, 7th Street at Taylor Street, Fort Worth, Texas.
#98 Hotel Texas “Welcome to Ft. Worth Where the West Begins” marquee at entrance, 1949
#99 Firemen on ladder fight fire at Metropolitan Hotel building, Fort Worth, Texas, 1943
#100 Petroleum building at 6th and Throckmorton, downtown Fort Worth, Texas, 1949
#101 Entrance to the Blackstone Hotel, Fort Worth, Texas, 1949
#102 Aerial of 1949 flood in Fort Worth; Montgomery Ward store along West 7th Street, looking northwest, 1949
#103 Aerial of 1949 flood in Fort Worth; looking north from Farrington Field high school football stadium toward West Lancaster Street, West 7th Street, and Montgomery Ward, 1949
#104 Front view of Will Rogers Memorial complex, 1949
#105 Colonial Country Club clubhouse after being ravaged by fire, 1949
#106 Flooded street, Green Stamps sign and Mobil Gas station, 7th St., University Dr., Camp Bowie intersection, Fort Worth, 1949
#107 People lining street at water’s edge during flood of May, 1949, Fort Worth, 1949
#108 Pig Stand restaurant partially under water during the May 1949 flood in Fort Worth, Texas, 1949
#109 Cass Edwards house at Pennsylvania and Summit; close-up of front entrace, 1948
#110 Exterior of the Winfield Scott home (Thistle Hill), 1509 Pennsylvania Avenue, Fort Worth, 1940
#111 Cass Edwards house at Pennsylvania and Summit, built late 1890s and scheduled to be torn down, 1948
#112 Downtown Fort Worth, West 7th Street looking east, 1940
#113 Loring Hotel on Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, Texas, 1949
#114 Tarrant County courthouse looking north on Fort Worth’s Main Street with the snow covered Paddock Viaduct, 1948
#115 Hyde Jennings house, northeast corner Lancaster and Summit; once a showplace on Fort Worth’s Quality Hill, to be moved to lot in Sycamore Heights, 1947
#116 View from the Tarrant County courthouse of a snow covered downtown Fort Worth, Texas, 1948
#117 A group poses in front of a “Howdy Stranger” sign at Shady Oak Farm, 1940
#118 Pennsylvania Avenue Hospital with Kenney’s Pharmacy on the left, Fort Worth, Texas, 1947
#119 Farrington Field, Fort Worth’s high school stadium, 1944
#120 Alta Vista Dairy Products, 1945
#121 Crowd during President Truman’s visit to Fort Worth, 1948
#122 Crown Machine and Tool Co., 2800 W. Lancaster Avenue, Fort Worth, 1944
#123 Looking west on West 7th Street from Henderson Street; Firestone building on left, 1940
#124 Entrance to Star-Telegram building on 7th St., Fort Worth, 1948
#125 The Tarrant County Courthouse, 1940
#126 Golfers at Rockwood Golf Course, 1941
#127 Fort Worth’s City Hall, Throckmorton and 9th St., 1941.
#128 Horse trough carving on the exterior of the Courthouse Square, in downtown Fort Worth, 1940
#129 Workmen looking at 48-year-old horse trough on Courthouse Square, downtown Fort Worth, 1940
#130 Teller windows in First National Bank, Fort Worth, Texas, 1949
#131 Revielle ceremony at Hicks Field ends 4-year training program for World War I and II pilots, Fort Worth, Texas, 1944
#132 Looking south down Main St. from Tarrant County Court House, Fort Worth in 1949
#133 First National Bank teller cages, Fort Worth, Texas, 1949
#134 156th Infantry from Camp Bowie, Texas, marching on Fort Worth’s Main St., 1940
#135 Skillern Drugs and A&P Super Market on Camp Bowie, Arlington Heights, 1949
#136 An exterior of Arlington Heights home, Fort Worth, Texas, 1941
#137 A staircase in Robert McCart home ,Arlington Heights, Fort Worth, Texas, 1941
#138 Burned sheep pens in Fort Worth stockyards, 1947
#139 Cows entering pens in Fort Worth Stockyards, 1946
#140 The Fair Department Store with Ellison’s Furniture Store in the foreground; 7th Street, downtown Fort Worth, 1947
#141 Fort Worth Club remodeling, showing statues in hallway, 1948
#142 The Texas & Pacific terminal warehouse, 1940
#143 Newsprint being unloaded at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1949
#144 Stockyards pens lonely, cattle pen with 2 cows during workers strike, Fort Worth Stockyards, 1940
#145 East-West expressway construction, 1940
#146 Bewley Building–Worth Hotel in foreground. People are walking on the pavement and automobiles are on the street, 1945
#147 A view seen from Texas & Pacific station, 1945
#148 Skyline of Fort Worth, Texas, from Methodist Hospital, corner of Henderson Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, 1948.
#149 Exterior shot of home of Mrs. M. R. Sanguinet, Arlington Heights, Fort Worth, Texas, 1940
#150 7th and Taylor Street, downtown Fort Worth, 1940
#151 All-American Horse Show and Rodeo parade in downtown Fort Worth, 1946
#152 The Parkway Theater exterior remodeling, Fort Worth, Texas, 1948
#153 Looking south on Throckmorton Street from 6th Street, 1945
#154 Military parade in downtown Fort Worth along Houston St. with Leonard’s and Meacham department stores along the street, 1948
#155 Construction of the North Side Recreation Center, Fort Worth, Texas, 1948
#156 The A. T. Byers home in Arlington Heights, Fort Worth, Texas, 1947
#157 Looking south on Throckmorton Street from 9th Street, 1945
#158 Burk Burnett Park at night in the snow, at 7th and Lamar streets; lights from surrounding buildings Texas Electric Service Company and Neil P. Anderson, 1948
#159 Retreat soldiers saluting lowering of flag as cannon booms, 1943
#160 The Pike Drive-In Movie Theater, 7500 East Lancaster Dr., near Sandy Lane, Fort Worth, Texas, 1947
#161 Looking south on Throckmorton Street from 9th Street, 1945
#162 Fort Worth City Club exterior, 7th and Throckmorton Sts., car at traffic light, 1944
#163 Mrs. Frank Goldthwaite making a long putt, River Crest Country Club, 1940
#164 The exterior of St. Alice’s Catholic Church, 1942
#165 Fort Worth National Bank building, 1945
#166 Exterior of the Tarrant County Courthouse with 1930s cars on street in front of building, 1940
#167 WBAP-TV’s new studio-transmitter building at 3900 Barnett [Broadcast Hill], Fort Worth, 1949
![WBAP-TV's new studio-transmitter building at 3900 Barnett [Broadcast Hill], Fort Worth, 1949](https://www.bygonely.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Fort-Worth-1940s-163.jpg)
#168 Fort Worth, Texas flood, 1949
#169 The flood of Marine Creek which submerged Maverick Café, 1942
#170 Fort Worth, Texas flood, 1949
#171 The exterior of Binyon-O’Keefe Storage Company, Fort Worth, Texas, 1942
#172 An exterior photograph of Armour & Company blood lab in the Fort Worth stockyards, 1943
#173 Knights Templar of Texas paraded before hundreds of onlookers in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, as a feature of their 88th conclave, 1941
The Greenville High School Band, brought to Fort Worth, Texas, as a compliment to Hale Clyde Salter, Greenville, Texas, grand commander. The band is marching in front of the Star-Telegram building. There are people watching the parade on the either side of the road.
