Site of Tarrant County's First Courthouse, Birdville

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight with a little Texas seasoning on top. You're rollin' past the site of Tarrant County's very first courthouse, and friend, there is a story buried in this ground. Birdville held the title of county seat from 1849 all the way to 1856; seven years of being the center of things, the place where Tarrant County did its official business.

And it wasn't a modest little arrangement, either. Eighty acres were set aside here for public use. The courthouse foundation was laid right on this spot, on land donated by two men: G.

Akers and W. Norris. That's a legacy.

That's roots. That ought to have been permanent. But then came 1856.

And with it, one of the bitterest elections this county ever saw. The question on the table was simple enough in theory: where should the county seat be? The answer turned out to be anything but simple.

Fort Worth wanted that title, and what followed was a contest so hotly fought that the whole thing ended up in court. Walker versus Tarrant County. The courts weighed it, deliberated, and ultimately upheld the vote.

Fort Worth became the county seat. Birdville's eighty acres, its donated land, its laid foundation; all of it stepped aside. Seven years of being the heart of Tarrant County, and then just like that, it wasn't anymore.

The ground you're passing right now remembers all of it.

What the marker says

First (1849-1856) county seat, Tarrant County, with 80 acres for public use. Courthouse foundation was laid on site donated by G. Akers and W. Norris. After courts upheld--in Walker vs. Tarrant County--vote in bitterly contested 1856 election, Fort Worth became the county seat. (1968).