DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in 1892, an engineer named John B. Hawley sat down and drew up Fort Worth's very first city water system — designed it, built it, the whole thing.
Now, most folks would've called that a career right there. But Hawley kept going. Fast-forward to 1927, and a man named Simon W.
Freese came on board. Then in 1930, Marvin C. Nichols joined the outfit, and just like that, you had yourself a firm: Hawley, Freese, and Nichols.
Three names, one serious purpose. Now here's where things get genuinely remarkable, and I don't say that lightly. This firm designed the nation's very first dual-purpose reservoirs.
The first. In the whole country. They also pioneered the use of environmental engineering concepts in water treatment — pioneered, meaning they were out front before the rest of the world caught up.
But maybe what I find most impressive is what they did for west Texas. Because anybody who's spent time out there knows water isn't something you take for granted — it's something you plan for, fight for, and engineer for. Freese and Nichols designed regional water supplies to serve not just one city, but several cities and industries at once, developing water resources for a part of Texas that needed every drop.
By the time this marker was placed in 1994, the firm had become one of the oldest engineering firms in the state of Texas, still at it, still playing what the marker itself calls a vital role in the development of Texas. Started with one man and a water system in 1892. Grew into something that shaped how an entire region drinks, lives, and grows.
That's not just engineering — that's legacy.
What the marker says
Engineer John B. Hawley, designer and builder of Fort Worth's first city water system in 1892, was joined by Simon W. Freese in 1927 and Marvin C. Nichols in 1930 to form Hawley, Freese, and Nichols. The firm designed the nation's first dual-purpose reservoirs and pioneered the use of environmental engineering concepts in water treatment. One of Texas' oldest engineering firms, Freese and Nichols, Inc. is noted for developing water for west Texas by designing regional supplies to serve several cities and industries. It continues to play a vital role in the development of Texas. (1994)