Ida Saunders Hall

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this place — you be the judge of how the story sits with you. Now, out here in Tarrant County, there's a building that's been around long enough to have a few good tales tucked into its walls. It was built in 1903 — back when Fort Worth was still figuring out what kind of city it wanted to be — and it started life as the old home of one William Edrington Scott, who lived from 1899 to 1961.

Scott would go on to give Fort Worth something genuinely one-of-a-kind: the Scott Theater, dedicated to all the performing arts. That's the kind of gift that echoes down through the generations. But the house itself had another chapter waiting for it.

In 1929, the Woman's Club came along and bought the place, and that's when things got a little more interesting. They didn't just move in — they renamed it. Ida Saunders Hall.

Named for a leader in the Fort Worth Woman's Club, a woman whose influence apparently ran deep enough that her name went right up on the building. A 1903 house, a 1929 purchase, a theater that still carries a donor's name across the skyline — and a woman remembered on a marker out front. Fort Worth has a way of holdin' onto the people who gave it something worth keepin'.

What the marker says

Old home of Wm. Edrington Scott (1899-1961), who gave to Fort Worth the unique Scott Theater for all the performing arts. Built in 1903 and bought by Woman's Club in 1929. Named for a leader in the Fort Worth Woman's Club.