Fort Worth Cattle Drive Celebrates 20 years
Fort Worth Herd celebrated 20th anniversary with 20 longhorns drive Friday, May 10, 2019, along East Exchange Avenue in the Stockyards. (more…)
Read more
Billy Bob’s History June 13, 1981: George Jones
View this post on Instagram
Read more
This week in Billy Bob's History: On June 13, 1981: George Jones cancelled his first show at Billy Bob’s. He made the show up a few days later and became friends with Billy Bob’s founder, Billy Bob Barnett, who managed him for a short period of time. Jones played at Billy Bob’s 25 times between 1981-2011.
YOU MIGHT BE A TEXAN IF….
YOU MIGHT BE A TEXAN IF....
1. You can properly pronounce Corsicana, Palestine, Decatur, Wichita Falls, Mexia, Waco, Beaumont, Pflugerville, Kerrville, Boerne, New Braunfels, Amarillo, Pedernales and Leakey!!
2. Your manners include: "Please", "Thank You", "Excuse me", "Ma'am" & "Sir" & you wanna punch those who don't use them.
3. A tornado warning siren is your signal to put the stuff out in the yard you wanna get rid of.
4. Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.
5. You’ve ever had to switch from “heat” to “A/C”, TWICE in the same day.
6. You know that the true value of a parking space is not determined by the distance to the door, but by the availability of shade.
7. Stores don’t have bags, they have sacks.
8. You see people wear bib overalls at funerals, with the utmost respect!
9. You think everyone from a bigger city has an accent.
10. You measure distance in minutes or hours.
11. You hear & use the term "f…
Read more
Legendary Cowboy Boot Maker Justin Boots
Fort Worth, Texas, is home to the legendary cowboy boot maker Justin Boots. H. J. "Daddy Joe" Justin (1859 - 1918) was one of the best known early cowboy boot makers. In 1879, Daddy Joe moved from Lafayette, Indiana, where he had been a boot repairman and started his company in Spanish Fort, Texas. He would measure the cowboys' feet for custom boots as they drove their cattle north and would have the boots ready for them on their return trip after they had sold the cattle and had the money to pay for the boots. Justin was one of the first companies to use decorative stitching to stiffen the leather, prevent it from folding around the ankles. In 1887, when the railroad line was built through Nocona, Texas, Daddy Joe moved the company there because it was easier to ship boots from a town on the railroad line. In 1925, the company moved to Fort Worth.
The Fort Worth Stockyards Once Supplied Beef, Pork and Lamb to People Throughout the Country
In the 1900s when the Fort Worth Stockyards were supplying beef, pork and lamb to people throughout the country. With the completion of the railroad line to Fort Worth, Texas in 1876 it made the city a major shipping point for livestock and led to the construction of the 206 acre Union Stockyards, which opened for business on January 19, 1890. The company was not successful because it lacked the money to buy enough cattle to attract local ranchers. The president of the company invited a wealthy Boston businessman, Greenleif Simpson, to Fort Worth, in an effort to get Simpson to invest in the stockyards. Simpson's visit coincided with heavy rains and a railroad strike, so there were more cattle than usual in the yard creating the impression that things were going well. This led Simpson and a half dozen other businessmen from Boston and Chicago to invest in the company. These men changed the name from the Union Stockyards to the Fort Worth Stockyar…