What Fort Worth, Texas looked like in the late-19th Century Through Stunning Historic Photos

Mother and daughter travel by horse-drawn buckboard to a Juneteenth celebration.

Delivery wagons, loaded with barrels, are stationed outside of Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association, located at Third and Throckmorton Streets.

Tarrant County Courthouse construction, members of Commissioners Court standing on roof; French Renaissance Revival designed by St. Louis firm Gunn and Curtis.

Texas Spring Palace, with American flag flying from roof; three people in lower right corner and people standing on upper balcony

Earliest Fort Worth skyline photo made by William F. Somerville; women are, from left, Mary Somerville and Mrs. H.H. Campbell; boys are Harold Somerville (left) and Alfred Somerville in black standing at fence, city in background.

Land agency on the corner of Lancaster and Main Street.

St. Joseph's infirmary, built in 1883 to serve employees of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and rebuilt in 1898, under direction of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word posing in front

Class picture of Miss Clara Burnham's elementary school class at the Third Ward School.

First Christian Church was established in 1855 and is Fort Worth's oldest continuously operating church. This building, constructed in 1878, was its second location. This photograph shows the front of the building with what appears to be the entire congregation of men, women, and children.

An exterior view of Edward T. Bergin's home, located at 1401 Henderson Street, on the corner of El Paso Street. A horse and carriage waits on the street. Two men, a woman, and several children sit on benches in front of the house.

A dirt road, possibly Main Street near the corner of Seventh Street, with buildings and carriages on either side. A photography business and G.W. Gillespies is on the left; other businesses, including Al Goodin Groceries are on the right.

Numerous people pose for a photograph during a holiday dinner in a local restaurant and store. Various prepared dishes sit on the counter, and employees stand in front of shelves lined with grocery items. A small Christmas tree sits on top of a cabinet in the back of the store. Signs for James G. Blain, a Republican candidate for the 1884 presidency, hang above the cash register.

From the interior of the Texas Spring Palace, a miniature lake with ship models serves as a representative exhibit of Galveston Harbor.

Dahlman Bros. Clothiers' mule cart rolls past the Boaz and Battle Cotton Yard, at the corner of Main and 14th Streets

Members of the volunteer fire department gather around a two wheeled cart, with a barrel in back.

The Fort Worth Benevolent Home for orphans, located on Cold Springs Road. Children gather on the balcony, porch, and terrace.

Workers pose with delivery wagons and horses outside the Southside Grocery, D. Mazza & Company, located at the corner of South Jennings and West Daggett Avenues.

A view of the old post office located on Jennings Avenue and Eleventh Street.

Group of young ladies and gentlemen assemble around fallen logs, for a photograph at the park. Edna Burchill is standing to the left of the young man wearing a derby hat.

Seven women gather for a group photograph along the picket fence of a front yard. Three women are seated upon a horse. Edna Burchill is seated first on the left, along the fence.

Main Street looking north from Eighth Street as it appeared about the turn of the century. Hotel Worth is on the right, and across the street is the Wheat Building, which was razed in 1940.

Three women and a man assemble for a group photograph outside the covered porch of a multiple-story house. Edna Burchill is on the left

This is likely a photograph of Edward T. Bergin's home. A man and a woman sit at the table, while another woman stands behind a camera she has pointed at a mirror. The image in the photograph is a reflection.

An exterior view of the Fort Worth Marble and Granite Works building, located at 1013-1015 Throckmorton Street. Pieces of marble and granite sit on the sidewalk underneath the awning. Five employees, some wearing aprons, pose for the photograph. Two children are visible in an upstairs window. An advertisement for the Lemen Brothers circus is in the background to the right. This building was expanded around 1903.

A cotton sale in the public square in downtown Fort Worth. Men sit on wagons and large bales of cotton. The City National Bank Building, with Daggett & Hatcher Grocers, is in the back of the square. D.C. Bennett Dry Goods, H.T. Havens Hardware Store, and the Alamo Sample Room are on the right.

Captain J.C. Terrell's residence, located on the southwest corner of Throckmorton and Sixth Streets, is the white house with the fenced in backyard. Dr. E.J. Beall's home, located on the corner of Fifth and Taylor Streets, is in the background to the left.

Seven women are lying prone on a lawn, along a wooden walkway. Edna Burchill is third from the right. A horse peers overs the fence.

American troops proceed down a road leading from a grass hut. Some troops carry brass musical instruments, while others carry rifles; freight wagons follow the musicians.

Two men stand outside the front entrance of the Hendricks Building Cigar and News Stand, located at 807 Main Street. The man on the left might be Pryor McDaniel, owner of the store.

City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County Courthouse, photo taken from Grand Hotel, Weatherford and Rusk,

Men, including several county commissioners, pose on the steps of the Tarrant County Courthouse during its construction. The photograph is accompanied by a diagram identifying nine of the men, including Henry M. Furman, Ben Waggoman, Henry R. Wall, H.C. Holloway, L.D. Nichols, M.E. Collins, B.B. Paddock, J.L. Mock, and R.G. Johnson."

Men, including L.D. Nichols, H.C. Holloway, Ben Waggoman, Judge Johnson, Henry R. Wall, and J.L. Mock, stand on the clock tower of the Tarrant County Courthouse.

The Tarrant County Courthouse, located on 100 W. Weatherford Street. Horse drawn wagons and streetcar tracks are visible on the unpaved streets. Tidball-Van Zandt & Company Bankers is in the foreground.

The Tarrant County Courthouse under construction.

A man stands outside the entrance of The Hoof and Horn Buffet and Delicatessen, located at East Exchange Street.

The city hall building, located on the corner of Throckmorton and Tenth Streets. The cornerstone for the limestone building was laid in 1892, and the cost of construction was $125,000. Several horse and wagons are parked in front of the building and two men converse on the sidewalk. The building was demolished in 1938 to make room for the new city hall.

The old Fort Worth Water Works plant, possibly the Paddock Water Works building. Captain B.B. Paddock constructed a private water system in 1882, and the city purchased it in 1884. The plant was located on the Trinity River at the north end of Houston Street.

The Texas Spring Palace's Cherokee County Tower and Rusk County facade. Each Texas county was invited to contribute agricultural materials to decorate the building's facade. Both the Cherokee County Tower and Rusk County Tower exteriors were composed of corn, Spanish moss, cane, corn shucks, popcorn, sorghum, and millet.

City hall, located on the corner of Throckmorton and Tenth Streets. The cornerstone for the limestone building was laid in 1892, and the cost of construction was $125,000. The building was demolished in 1938 to make room for the new city hall.

The Tarrant County Courthouse, located on 100 W. Weatherford Street. The building was built in 1895 at a cost of $475,000.

Henry Lipscomb, Mr. Adams, and K.M. Van Zandt sit on folding chairs, under some trees in a park.

An illustration of the Texas & Pacific passenger station located on Main and Front (now Lancaster) Streets.

The storefront of Whitsitt Drug Store on Main Street. Two boys talk near the door.

Two fire men and a dog sit on a horse-drawn wagon carrying ladders. Five other men and a boy stand around the wagon. They may be posing next to the original downtown central fire station.

The central fire station on Eighth and Throckmorton Streets was built in 1899. The city hall building, directly behind the station, is partially visible. A few men are standing outside the station.

A view of a dirt street, possibly Seventh Street facing St. Paul's Methodist Church, with a horse and buggy travelling on it.

This Victorian house, located at 1110 Penn Street, was built in 1899 by the firm Messer, Sanguinet, & Messer. It was built for Sarah Ball, and purchased by William Eddleman, the founder of Western National Bank; it was the residence of Carrie McFarland, Eddleman's daughter, until she died in 1978.

A group of men of the Fort Worth University Literary Society pose for a group portrait.

The city hall building, located on the corner of Throckmorton and Tenth Streets. The cornerstone for the limestone building was laid in 1892, and the cost of construction was $125,000. The building was demolished in 1938 to make room for the new city hall.

The First Christian Church building at the corner of Throckmorton and Sixth Streets. It was built in 1878, and demolished in 1914 to make way for a new church building.

Employees and delivery wagons are stationed outside Louis Bicocchi Grocery located at the corner of Seventh and Burnett Streets. According to the marquee, the establishment is also a bread and ice depot.

The Colorado State Capitol building, located at 200 East Colfax Avenue in Denver, was built in 1894.

A group of people stand on the stairway and sit in chairs of a waiting room, possibly the lobby of a hotel. Several spittoons sit on the floor, and advertisements for local businesses hang on the wall.

View of a masonry bridge, crossing a creek, somewhere in the Philippines.

U.S. Army troops are presented for review at the headquarters of the Battalion of Engineers, 8th Army Corps, possibly in Batangas City, near the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.

A local family at work amongst their nipa huts, somewhere in the Philippines.

Bird's-eye view of a smoldering volcano, possibly the Taal Volcano in the Batangas province of the Philippines.

American troops swimming in a river, possibly in the Batangas province of the Philippines.

An assortment of howitzers and cannons are stored in the courtyard of an armory, possibly left behind by the Spanish military after the Battle of Manilla. Most of the artillery appear to be smooth bore.

Outside the stone walls of a Philippine cemetery, possibly in the Batangas province. Two men stand in the doorway of a domed mausoleum.

This is likely a photograph of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (on left) in Batangas City. The building to the right probably served as a headquarters for the Battalion of Engineers that was attached to the 8th Army. A closer view reveals supply wagons, and numerous American troops walking in the plaza.

American infantrymen rest in chairs underneath shade trees, while other troops nap on the ground, possibly near Batangas City, Philippines.

U.S. Infantry present themselves for drill exercises on the parade ground of a temporary military camp, possibly near Batangas City, Philippines.

American troops fall in for inspection in front of a two-story building, likely in Batangas City or Lipa, Philippines. Some of the soldier's campaign hats have an insignia resembling the number 8, possibly for the 8th Army Corps.

Members of the 8th Army Corps pose for a group photograph in front of a village wall, likely in Luzon Island, Philippines.

Colonel George S. Anderson, Commander of 38th U.S. Volunteer Infantry, reviews a temporary military camp established outside the ruins of an old Spanish Church in the Philippines. Meanwhile, the troops tend to the horses.

Three Philippine pallbearers transport one of their departed up the steep steps to the entrance of a cemetery.

Three mounted troops cross a Philippine stream.

A villager stands atop a community well, to draw water, outside of a nipa hut village in the Philippines.

A gathering of women, wearing costumes, pose under an umbrella. Attendees include Donnie Lu Carter, Mary Muller, Anine Samuels, Florence Adams, Grace Potter, Frances Tarlton, Ann Fields, Jennie Walker Davis, Ora Stroud Slack, Abbie Johnston, Grace Hollingsworth, Susie Bell Blanchard, Mary Bell Bradley, Lola Binyon, Daisie Beverly, Alberta Triplett, Frannie Montgomery, Louise Orrick [Bin], Anna Hogsett Ballard, and Ella Hogsett.

A botany class at Fort Worth University poses in front of the main building. Left to right: Plenny Fosdick, James Daniel Easley, Thomas R. White, Clifton Humphreys, Fred Neye, Mr. Martin (teacher), Josie Terrell, Annie Tandy, and Mary Lou Trimble.

This house, owned by cattleman Winfield Scott, was located downtown at 512 Lamar Street.

The old federal building and post office, built in 1896, was located on the corner of Texas and Jennings Streets across from St. Patrick Cathedral.

The home and business of Robert J. Lamb, located at 833 Taylor Street. Lamb was a music teacher and a piano dealer.

A view of the city hall building on Throckmorton and Tenth Streets; the central fire station on Eighth and Throckmorton Streets is to the right.

A view of the Tarrant County Courthouse with a horse-drawn carriage and a streetcar in the foreground.

The central fire station on Eighth and Throckmorton Streets was built in 1899. Several small trees have been planted in the lawn. The lot across the street appears to be empty.

The First Presbyterian Church located on the corner of Fifth and Taylor Streets.

The St. Ignatius Academy was a day and boarding school for young ladies. Founded around 1888, it was located on the corner of Throckmorton and Twelfth Streets next to St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Hotel Worth, located on the corner of Main and Seventh Streets, opened in 1896. A & L August, a men's clothing store, was on the first floor.

J.T. Ellis and his son Jerry ride in a horse-drawn wagon by the First Presbyterian Church.

Two couples ride in a horse drawn surrey, and an enlisted man holds the reigns of the horse. Behind the carriage is the Fort Worth Fencibles camp, possibly in Austin, Texas. The camp is composed of numerous tents occupied by soldiers and their guests.

Tarrant County Courthouse under construction. The courthouse was built with pink granite and is one the earliest steel framed buildings in the American southwest.

The Fort Worth Benevolent Home for orphans, located on Cold Springs Road. Children gather on the balcony, porch, and terrace.

A group of children pose for a photograph outside of a schoolhouse, possibly at the Fort Worth Benevolent Home for orphans. The girls, each holding a doll, stand in two rows; the boys sit against the wall of the school. A male teacher stands in a doorway, and a few older girls sit in the window sills.

Crowds on the balconies watch a large ornate carriage, pulled by 10 horses and driven by men in uniforms, proceed down a street in Fort Worth.

Written on accompanying insert: "This is a picture of the first paid Fire Chief of Fort Worth, John Cella, who was chief from 1894 to 1901, when he was succeeded by Jas H. Maddox . . . By the way of explanation, Chief Cella is in the Chief's buggy and it is decorated with white paper flowers to appear in the annual flower parade. In addition to being Chief, John Cella operated a bar in the old Mansion Hotel, on the corner of 4th & Main streets, and he paid the fireman by check and had them come to the bar to have their checks cashed, buy a drink, and pay the Chief any money they owed him.

The men and boys of the Mulkey family, dressed as a travelling pioneer family.

Three women dressed in white ride upon a horse-drawn carriage in Fort Worth's Flower Carnival Parade.

The faculty and students of Fort Worth University Medical Department's 1895 first term pose for a group photograph outside of the college.

A parade headed east down the 100 block of Belknap Street, past the Tarrant County Jail (on the right). John A. Mugg, Jr. is seated on the left in the 1st buggy; his son M.E. Mugg is the small boy in the wagon. John A. Mugg, Jr. was grandson of A. F Leonard and Mary Ann Foster Leonard.

A view of Fort Worth's west side, including a park and several houses, taken from William Montgomery's residence at 612 West Third Street.

Seven people stand in front of a two-story Queen Anne house. Inscribed, "One of the first houses south of the depot in the new Jennings Addition."

In 1894, Tom Jennings was living with attorney Hyde Jennings in this Victorian house located at the northwest corner of North (now Lancaster) and Lake Streets. A boy and a man with a lawn mower are standing in the front yard.

A man, possibly Hyde Jennings, stands in front of the Hyde Jennings home located on North (now Lancaster) Street and the corner of Summit or Lake Street.

A woman stands next to a floral arrangement sitting on a table. The room is decorated with a chandelier, several chairs, and a fireplace with a large glass mirror above the mantle.

Attorney Frank W. Ball was the owner of this Queen Anne home, located at 324 Summit Avenue.

Numerous chairs and tables sit on a floral-patterned carpet in the parlor of Frank W. Ball's home, located at 324 Summit Avenue.

Home of Helen Daggett Moorman, later Mrs. William McKee, three miles north of Fort Worth.

The Masonic Widows' and Orphans' Home, located 4 miles southeast of Fort Worth and 1 mile south of Polytechnic College.

David 'Tuck' Boaz home at 611 E. Bluff. This was the first two-story brick house in Fort Worth, and all brick was handmade by Boaz, who personally built this house in 1872.

E.M. Daggett's Queen Anne house, located at 603 E. Bluff Street.

David 'Tuck' Boaz home at 611 E. Bluff. This was the first two-story brick house in Fort Worth, and all brick was handmade by Boaz, who personally built this house in 1872.

Numerous people stand on walkways and sit on the grounds of Fort Worth High School, a Romanesque-style building built in 1891. Designed by Sanguinet and Haggart, it was constructed by contractors Smith and Barden. This was the first school in the area to educate both boys and girls, but was destroyed by fire on December 2, 1910.

Saddles and harnesses are on display in a saddle shop in Fort Worth, Texas.

John W. Bondurant (center) and two other men are seated in an office. Bondurant was a salesman for the Bergman Produce Company at 234-239 West 15th Street.

Employees stand on the porch of the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway (FW&RG), located at Railroad and Jennings Avenues. The building housed the office of W.B. King, president of the FW&RG.

Workers pose with delivery wagons and horses outside the Southside Grocery, D. Mazza & Company, located at the corner of South Jennings and West Daggett Avenues.

Three wooden buildings mark the site of the Cotton Belt Railroad Depot, located north of the old Texas Electric Service Plant on North Main Street.

An architectural rendering of Hendricks office building by architects Haggart & Sanguinet. The structure was to be built at the corner of Seventh and Main Streets, but may have instead become the Worth Hotel, which had the August's Department Store occupying the ground floor.

Delivery wagons, loaded with barrels, are stationed outside of Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association, located at Third and Throckmorton Streets.

Electric streetcars and horse-drawn carriages pass by the Worth Hotel, located on the southeast corner of Seventh and Main Streets. Alphonse and Larry August's Clothing Store is located on the ground floor of the hotel.

Architectural rendering of the Farmers and Mechanics National Bank building, located on the corner of Main and Seventh Streets.

Cattle in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Boxcars near the yard belong to the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad and Texas and Pacific Railroad.

Chile's Dam, also known as City Park Dam, seen from the banks of the Clear Fork of the Trinity River. When this photo was taken, the City of Fort Worth Water Works Department had just completed repairs on a series of dams located on the Clear Fork. The department designated Chile's Dam as Clear Fork Dam, No. 1, which was built in 1892 to provide a water supply for the Holly Water Treatment Plant. The dam was demolished when the river channel was straightened in the 1930s. The Lancaster Avenue Bridge crosses over the old site.