The Wild Side of the Highway RoadyGoat

The road you may be driving on now, Jacksboro Highway, was once one of the most infamous strips in Texas. From the 1940s into the 1950s this was the playground for Carswell Air Force Base and the bomber plant next door. Hot rods ran it so hard that people called it Thunder Road — a sixteen-mile stream of neon with forty-odd honky-tonks and beer joints, backroom gambling, slot machines and regular gunfire. Airmen and factory hands packed the Skyliner Ballroom and the Rocket Club down in Fort Worth proper, and here in Sansom Park they crowded the Inez 50/50 Club. Louis Armstrong played the strip. So did Willie Nelson and Tina Turner. Gangsters worked it until the last of them were killed off. Sansom Park had incorporated on March 24, 1949, after years of residents organizing against being taxed and annexed by the bigger cities around it — and that independence let the village keep its own hand on what happened here. The neon signs are mostly gone, but the highway itself is a monument to a wilder time.

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The Suburb Built by Bombers RoadyGoat

Look southwest of Sansom Park, over on the east side of Lake Worth, and you'll find the reason this city exists: a massive aircraft factory that has been the region's economic heart for more than eighty years. In 1942 the mile-long, windowless Plant 4 opened to build B-24 Liberator bombers for World War Two - more than three thousand of them passed through. After the war it became home to the Cold War giants: the ten-engine B-36 Peacemaker and the supersonic B-58 Hustler. Later it turned out the F-111, then the F-16, and today the F-35 fighter. Each new program brought thousands of jobs, and it still employs around seventeen thousand people. Those engineers, mechanics and assembly workers needed houses, and the land that became Sansom Park was the perfect affordable spot. This isn't just a suburb; it's a community built by, and for, the people who armed America through the skies.

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Engineering the Cold War RoadyGoat

The community of Sansom Park grew up in the shadow of one of the world's great engineering marvels: Air Force Plant 4. This factory solved incredible technical problems to build America's strategic aircraft. Consider the B-36 Peacemaker, built here from 1945 into the mid-1950s. It carried the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever made - wings so deep that a crewman could crawl through a passage inside them to reach the engines in flight. Six piston engines and four jets: six turning and four burning, the most engines of any mass-produced airplane. Then came the B-58 Hustler, the first operational supersonic bomber, which demanded pioneering new design just to survive flight at twice the speed of sound. Thousands of Sansom Park residents spent their careers inside that plant, solving problems in metallurgy, aerodynamics and electronics. The quiet suburban streets you're driving through were home to the minds and hands that engineered the Cold War.

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Castleberry HS Tornado Damage

2000

F3 tornado tracked NE through west Fort Worth, destroying Castleberry High School's field house and damaging the River Oaks / Westworth / Linwood neighborhoods before climbing the Bank One Tower downtown. Local lore: former student Steven Brown told a TV news crew the wreckage 'looked like a convertible,' a quote he never lived down.

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Horace Seaver Carswell, Jr.

1916

Major, United States Army Air Corps Horace Seaver Carswell, Jr. was born on July 18, 1916, to Horace S. and Bertha Rea Carswell of Fort Worth. He attended North Side High School where he excelled in athletics. Graduating in 1934, Carswell entered Texas A&M College and later transferred to Texas Christian University, where he lettered in football and baseball and graduated with a degree in Physical Education in 1939. In 1940, Carswell enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a Flying Cadet. He undertook Primary Flight Training in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and at Randolph Field (San Antonio), and Advanced Flying Training at Kelly Field (San Antonio). Upon receiving his wings in November 1940 he served at Randolph Field and Goodfellow Field (San Angelo) where he met and later married Virginia Ede in October 1941. Two months later the U.S. entered World War II. Carswell served in stateside assignments until April 1944, when he was transferred to the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations and to the 374th Bombardment Squadron, 308th Bombardment Group. Major Carswell commanded a unit of radar-equipped B-24J bombers at Liuchow, China. On October 26, 1944, he led a nighttime interdiction mission over the South China Sea. While attacking an enemy convoy, his aircraft was severly damaged by Japanese anti-aircraft fire. Carswell nursed his aircraft to the China coast where he ordered his crew to parachute to safety. When two of his crew could not bail out, he selflessly remained with his aircraft, searching for a spot to land until the damaged plane crashed into a mountainside. Carswell was posthumously awarded the medal of honor, which was presented to his wife and young son. In 1948, his remains were repatriated and buried in Fort Worth. That same year, Army Air Field was renamed Carswell Air Force Base in his honor. Its airstrip is still officially named "Carswell Field."		(2016)

Historical Marker → · 3.0 mi away

Fort Worth Stockyards

1866

Once the largest livestock market in the Southwest. The Chisholm Trail ended here. Fort Worth earned the nickname 'Cowtown' from the millions of cattle that passed through.

3.3 mi away

Fort Worth Stock Yards Company

1893

The Fort Worth Stock Yards Company was created in 1893, when Boston capitalist Greenlief W. Simpson led a group of investors in purchasing the Fort Worth Union Stock Yards. Under Simpson's leadership, the Company earned the support of the Texas Cattle Raisers Association and lured the prominent meatpacking companies of Armour and Swift to open plants here. Publicity through the Company's market newspaper and annual Fat Stock Show, both begun in 1896, resulted in a significant increase in the number of animals brought to market. The Stock Yards Co. built the area's livestock-related facilities and had controlling interest in many North Fort Worth businesses and properties. The first five decades of the 20th Century were the most successful for the Fort Worth Stock Yards Co. During World War I, foreign governments purchased draft animals, making Fort Worth the largest horse and mule market in the world. In 1917, overall livestock market receipts reached 3,500,000 and in 1944, sales exceeded 5,000,000 head of livestock. However, by the 1950s, local auctions were drawing sellers away from this central market. Today the Fort Worth Stock Yards Co. continues as a significant part of the city's unique heritage. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986.

Historical Marker → · 3.3 mi away

Billy Bob's Texas

1981

Billed as the "World's Largest Honky-Tonk" and located in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards district, Billy Bob's Texas, which comprises a total interior space of 100,000 square feet, along with twenty acres for parking, is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state. Many of the brightest stars in country music have played on its stage. In addition to nightly musical performances, Billy Bob offers live bull riding, dancing, drinking, games, and more to a capacity crowd of 6,000. Billy Bob's has been nominated numerous times and, as of 2011, had won eight titles as the country music "Club of the Year" by the Academy of Country Music. The Country Music Association also has recognized the nightclub with the "Club of the Year" title three times. Billy Bob's Texas was the brainchild of Texas A&M University graduate and professional football player Billy Bob Barnett. Joining Barnett in the venture was nightclub owner Spencer Taylor, a former car salesman. The two chose an abandoned 100,000-square-foot department store that had once been an open-air cattle barn in the Fort Worth Stockyards. The original structure was built in 1910 and underwent several transformations through the years. Additional animal stalls and an auction ring were constructed in 1936, and during World War II the Globe Aircraft Corporation used the building as an airplane factory. With the additional help of investment partners Thomas and Mitt Lloyd, Barnett renovated the facility and opened the doors for business on April 1, 1981. Following on the heels of the early 1980s Urban Cowboy craze and subsequent country music boom, Billy Bob's Texas was an instant hit. The first week featured Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers , Waylon Jennings , Janie Fricke, and Willie Nelson. A host of others followed, including rockers ZZ Top and the Beach Boys and country music legends Marty Robbins and Ernest Tubb . Billy Bob's Texas helped foster many new musical acts. As the club's marketing director, Pam Minick, wrote, "Billy Bob's became the place for country music musicians to hone their skills, build a fan following, and possibly secure a recording contract." George Strait, for example, played first as an opening act at Billy Bob's. Rick Treviño placed in a talent contest at the nightclub. Ty Herndon was a member of the house band, Southern Thunder. However, problems eventually beset the nightclub. In the late 1980s, country music, Billy Bob's biggest draw, declined in popularity. Financial mismanagement and unrealized projects drained the nightclub. Billy Bob's Texas was bankrupt, and on January 8, 1988, it closed, causing great loss to the tourism industry of Fort Worth, especially the Stockyards district. Soon afterward, however, entrepreneur Holt Hickman, a Fort Worth native, sought to revive the Stockyards. Hickman's long-time friend and businessman Steve Murrin encouraged him to reopen Billy Bob's Texas. Hickman and Murrin, along with Donald K. Jury, an original Billy Bob's Texas investor, reopened the place on November 28, 1988. In February 1989, Billy Minick became a partner and manager of the nightclub. He eventually became CEO, with his wife Pam as head of marketing. When Billy Bob's Texas reopened, new headliners took the stage, including Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, and Texans LeAnn Rimes and Clint Black. As country music regained popularity, Billy Bob's focused on native talent, especially musicians who had crossover appeal. Such Texas acts as Robert Earl Keen and Pat Green became some of the club's biggest draws. The high-energy environment and close setting of Billy Bob's Texas allowed these performers to interact more with their fans. According to Pam Minick, most stars know they have made it when they have played the main stage at Billy Bob's. The club has a Handprint Wall of Fame that displays impressions of every performer who has played onstage. Many artists have recorded live at Billy Bob's. Among the first to do so were Chris LeDoux and D

Tsha Handbook → · 3.4 mi away

Fort Worth, TX

1853

Fort Worth is located on the Clear Fork of the Trinity River near its confluence with the West Fork of the Trinity in Tarrant County. It lies at 32º 46' north latitude, 97º 18' west longitude, putting it on the edge of the Great Plains, which explains why the eastern area of the city is part of the Cross Timbers while the western area is flat, arid prairieland. Fort Worth began life on the grounds of an abandoned U.S. Army post ( see FORT WORTH ) in 1853. Local settlers moved into the empty structures on the bluff over the river and began building out into the surrounding area that was once part of the Peters Colony . They first called themselves Fort Town to distinguish their little community from the military post. They numbered less than 100. Among the pioneer settlers were Ephraim Daggett , who generously gave land for civic improvement; John Peter Smith (often referred to as the "father of Fort Worth"), who started the first school in 1854; Henry Daggett and Archibald Leonard , who opened general stores; and Julian Feild , who started a flour mill and served as the first postmaster in 1856. The little village was connected to the outside world by the U.S. mail stage line that began operation to surrounding communities in 1856, followed by the Butterfield Overland stage line two years later. In 1878 mail and passenger service from Fort Worth to Yuma, Arizona, began. The 1,560-mile route was the longest in the United States and took seventeen days to traverse one way. Although Fort Worth was indeed a frontier town for more than two decades and would later call itself "The City Where the West Begins," it was never seriously threatened by American Indians . Virtually all the tribes that came through the area were weak, peaceful groups more interested in gifts and protection from their warlike neighbors than in raiding. Local legend may say otherwise but is not supported by written records. After Tarrant County was created in 1849, Birdville was the first designated county seat. Seven years later, in 1856, the residents of Fort Town challenged the status quo by getting the state legislature to hold a special election to determine the best location. Fort Worth narrowly won amid charges of illegal voting. A second and just as bitter election was held in April 1860, and this time Fort Worth overwhelmingly carried the day. Fort Worth citizens first started to build a courthouse-a three-room, wood-frame structure-on the bluff in 1857. The site, on what is now the west lawn of the current courthouse, was on the block regarded as the center of town and known variously as the public square and the courthouse square. Construction of a more permanent two-story stone courthouse began in the center of the courthouse square in 1860, but the privately funded project moved slowly, stopped with the outbreak of the Civil War , and the building was not completed until 1869. The structure burned on March 29, 1876, destroying most of the county records. Daniel O'Flaherty was hired to design the new courthouse on the same site, which was completed in 1877 and enlarged in 1882 by adding a third story in a mansard roof. It was replaced by the current iconic pink granite building, designed by Gunn and Curtiss, in 1895. Fort Worth was incorporated by act of the state legislature in 1873, giving it the traditional mayor-council form of government . W. P. Burts served as the first mayor. Municipal elections were held in April of every year, and members of the council (aldermen) were elected to represent a particular ward. In 1907 the city adopted the commission form of government , replacing aldermen with commissioners elected at-large, each focusing on a particular aspect of municipal administration. The city's population dramatically increased over the years. From no more than 350 citizens recorded at the beginning of the Civil War, to approximately 2,500 before incorporation and then to possibly 4,000 or more in the fall of 1873 after incor

Tsha Handbook → · 3.4 mi away

Sansom Park, Texas

Music in Sansom Park

Songs About Sansom Park

Artists From Sansom Park

Rivers & Roads in Song near Sansom Park

History of Sansom Park

The Wild Side of the Highway RoadyGoat

The Suburb Built by Bombers RoadyGoat

Engineering the Cold War RoadyGoat

Castleberry HS Tornado Damage

Horace Seaver Carswell, Jr.

Fort Worth Stockyards

Fort Worth Stock Yards Company

Billy Bob's Texas

Fort Worth, TX

Things to Do in Sansom Park

Everything Near Sansom Park