DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Fort Worth Livestock Exchange — and friend, this one's got some weight to it. Now, you have to understand something about Fort Worth in the late 1860s. It was a stop.
A waypoint. Cattle coming up the trails would pass through, and the town would watch them go. But some folks looked at all those hooves churning up the dust and saw something bigger than a rest stop.
They saw a market waiting to happen. By the 1870s, somebody got organized. West Texas cattle needed a place to be bought and sold, and Fort Worth stepped up to be that place.
And the first trader to plant his flag in that enterprise? A man by the name of T. B.
Saunders, Sr. First one through the door. Didn't stay alone for long, though — others joined him, and the thing started building momentum the way a good fire does when the wind picks up.
First came the small packing houses. Modest operations. Then, in the early 1900s, those modest operations gave way to multi-million dollar plants.
Multi-million. And by 1910, trading had almost doubled. Almost doubled on top of what was already a serious piece of commerce.
Right in the middle of all that growth, between 1902 and 1903, they erected this structure. Built it to house the Stockyards Company, the Livestock Commission, and the buyers' offices — all under one roof, surrounded by lawns. Those lawns are parking lots now, in case you were wondering where the romance went.
By any measure, this became one of the greatest cattle markets in the world. Not in Texas. In the world.
Then in 1944, the United Stockyards Corporation purchased it, and a new chapter turned. From a trail stop in the late 1860s to a world-class market standing on multi-million dollar ground — Fort Worth didn't just watch the cattle pass through. It made them stay.
What the marker says
Headquarters, one of greatest cattle markets in the world. In late 1860s Fort Worth was stop on cattle trails. Market for West Texas organized 1870s. First trader, T. B. Saunders, Sr., soon was joined by others. First small packing houses were followed (early 1900s) by multi-million dollar plants. By 1910 trading almost doubled. This structure was erected in 1902-03 to house the Stockyards Company, Livestock Commission, and buyers officers, surrounded by lawns (now parking lots). In 1944, was purchased by United Stockyards Corporation.