Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District

FORT WORTH STOCKYARDS NATIONAL HISTORICAL DISTRICT

The Fort Worth Stockyards is the heart of Cowtown. Like the Alamo is to San Antonio, the Reunion Tower is to Dallas, the Space Needle is to Seattle, the Golden Gate Bridge is to San Francisco, the Statue of Liberty is to New York City, the Gateway Arch is to St. Louis, the Stockyards is to Fort Worth. In a city which claims to be "Where the West Begins", the Stockyards is the best proof of that claim, with its modern day Texas Cowboys and Longhorn Herds wandering the streets, occasional gunfights, plenty of saloons and some real good barbecue, the Stockyards is really the true Cultural District of Fort Worth. Check out the last Chisholm Trail Roundup before the event was cancelled for some more Stockyard culture. The Stockyards celebrates Fort Worth's storied history as part of the cattle industry. The Stockyards was named a National Historical District in 1976, 100 years after the arrival of the railroad made the Stockyards an important livestock center.

Watch video we took March 13, 2010 on a busy Saturday in the Fort Worth Stockyards

Click here for a map showing the location of the Fort Worth Stockyards

Check out the prison housing Panamanians and some Americans, built in the Stockyards zone in 2007.

SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE INFO ABOUT EVENTS, RESTAURANTS, LODGING AND MORE

Are you planning a Texas Trip? Do you need a Travel Guide, or a Brochure about a Texas Attraction like Six Flags or Schlitterbahn. Are you looking for information about Lodging or Camping? Do you need Maps with good directions? You will find all the Texas Information you need by visiting one of the 12 Texas Travel Information Centers located at convenient locations throughout Texas.

FREE! LEGENDS OF TEXAS GUNFIGHT SHOWS
11:45 & 4:15 Saturdays and Sundays following the Fort Worth Herd Cattle Drive
Live music on the Stockyards Station Stage every Saturday 2-5 pm
STOCKYARD CHAMPIONSHIP RODEO
Every Friday and Saturday night year round starting at 8 pm

Fort Worth Stock Yards sign above Exchange Avenue. The White Elephant Saloon is to the right, H3 Ranch and the Buffalo Butt Saloon to the left.

click a thumbnail to view a photo

The classic Stockyards view, looking west on Exchange Avenue near the White Elephant Saloon which is to the right in this view, as is the Love Shack. To the left is H3 Ranch, where almost everything has a hickory smoke flavor, and is connected to Booger Red's Saloon with its notorious Buffalo Butt Beer. In Booger Red's there is a buffalo butt on the wall. The buffalo goes straight thru the wall into H3 Ranch where its head is on the wall. H3 Ranch, Booger Red's and the Stockyard Hotel are all interconnected. This may be the premier location in the Stockyards.


Booger Red's Saloon	The Stockyards Hotel

Another view on a another day of the most photographed location in Fort Worth. Here you see a lone cowboy who seems to be looking for his herd.

Fort Worth Stockyards Visitor Information Center
Across From the Livestock Exchange Building
Phone: 817.625-9715

Another view of the most photograhed location in Fort Worth, that being the Fort Worth Stock Yards sign above Exchange Avenue.

BILLY BOB'S TEXAS CONCERT SCHEDULE

AUGUST CONCERTS

Show Date	Artist	Reserved	General Admission
27	Jamey Johnson	$20	$15
28	Sara Evans	$30	$15

August House Bands
August 18-21 Midnight Thunder August 25-28 Shawna Russell

SEPTEMBER CONCERTS

Show Date	Artist	Reserved	General Admission
3	Kyle Bennett Band	$15	$12
4	Asleep At The Wheel	$17	$12
10	Stoney LaRue	$18	$15
11	Kellie Pickler	$35	$15
16	Neal McCoy Presented by Communities in Schools	$25	$15
17	Kyle Park		$12 (Honky Tonk Stage)
18	Clay Walker	$35	$15
24	Aaron Watson	$16	$12
25	Tracy Lawrence	$25	$15

September House Bands
Sept 1-4 Chris & The Roughnecks Sept 8-11 Southern Chrome Sept 15-18 Johnny Lovett
Sept 22-25 Jay Michaels Sept 29 - Oct 2 Niles City

OCTOBER CONCERTS

Show Date	Artist	Reserved	General Admission
2	Clint Black	$35	$15
9	Jack Ingram	$20	$15
30	Dwight Yoakam	$40	$20

October House Bands
Oct 6-9 Shawna Russell Oct 13-16 Blaine Gray Oct 20-23 Keith Mitchell
Oct 27-30 Chris & The Roughnecks

Watch a short video of the Fort Worth Herd Cattle Drive through the Stockyards

Hillary March 1, 2008 campaign rally at the Fort Worth Stockyards.

On the first day of March of 2008 Hillary Clinton showed up at the Fort Worth Stockyards for a campaign rally.

Go to our Blog and read all about "My Date with Hillary",

Visiting the Fort Worth area? Here's a list of some of our favorite restaurants in the D/FW area.

The Love Shack hamburger joint by the White Elephant Saloon in the Fort Worth Stockyard.

The White Elephant Saloon is known for its white elephants, its ceiling covered with cowboy hats, its picking by Esquire Magazine as one of the Top 100 bars in America, its service as a set for some TV show about a Texas Ranger named Walker, for its annual re-enactment of an infamous Fort Worth gunfight. As of winter of 2007, the White Elephant Saloon's Beer Garden is now the Love Shack. Part of the growing empire of celebrity chef, Tim Love's restaurants, which in the Stockyards also includes his critically acclaimed Lonesome Dove Bistro. The Love Shack is a hamburger joint, making really good burgers, onion rings and shakes of the day. Cash only, but there's an ATM.

The Marine Creek Canal in Saunders Park running beneath the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Most Fort Worth Stockyard's visitors do not realize a river runs through it, well, actually a creek, Marine Creek, which a short distance from this point will join the Trinity River. In this photo we are standing under the bridge which most people walking on Exchange Avenue don't realize they are on when they are in the White Elephant Saloon or standing near the Fort Worth Stockyards sign. There is a paved trail called the Marine Creek Linear Park of which this location is a part. In this photo we are looking south towards the Saunders Park area of the Marine Creek Linear Park

Overlooking Saunders Park and the Marine Creek Linear Park at the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Now we are in the aforementioned Saunders Park, overlooking Marine Creek. This is a very attractive, scenic part of the Stockyards that few see. There is a sign on the south side of Exchange Avenue pointing visitors to an alley that leads to the park, but that one sign seems to be the only effort made to direct people to this location. Tim Love's Lonesome Dove Bistro is the only Stockyards venue to take advantage of this asset. The Lonesome Dove has a deck overlooking the park where diners can enjoy the view.

A photo taken on a drizzly winter day of the Fort Worth Stock Yards showing the trolley going west on Exchange Avenue as part of its route that goes through downtown Fort Worth and to the Cultural District including the Fort Worth Zoo.

A look at the Stockyards on a drizzly winter day in late February, with the Fort Worth trolley making its way down Exchange Avenue. Even on a damp, cold day there are people enjoying the Stockyards.

The Sona Prison set for Prison Break near the Fort Worth Stockyards.

If you turn around in the above scene and look the opposite direction, you will be looking towards the Stockyard Ruins, You can walk from this point to a close up look at the new prison built in 2007, called Sona Prison, housing mostly Panamanians, a few Americans and one Australian. Click here to view more photos of Sona Prison and the Stockyard Ruins.

A photo of one of the cowboys from the Fort Worth Stockyard's Fort Worth Herd. The cowboy is wearing a sombrero.

Now we've caught up with the lone cowboy. He still hasn't found his herd, but some tourists seem to have found him and so he obligingly poses for some photos.

The Fort Worth Herd is on the move 11:30 AM & 4:00 PM

Watch a short video of the Fort Worth Herd Cattle Drive through the Stockyards

In this photo we see a blonde transplanted from the state of Washington takes a fall from the mechanical bull across from the Fort Worth Stockyard's Stockyards Station, next to the Cowtown Maze and the turnaround for the Tarantula Train.

Tourists come from all over the U.S. and the World to experience Texas culture, Fort Worth style. Here we see a Marilyn Monroe look-alike from Hollywood after being tossed to the padded ground by a Mechanical Fort Worth Bull. You can find the Mechanical Bull next to the Cowtown Cattlepen Maze across from Stockyard Station and next to the Tarantula Train.

The Cowtown Cattlepen Maze at the Fort Worth Stockyards. This was the final task on the 5th edition of The Amazing Race on CBS.

The Cowtown Cattlepen Maze was the final task on The Amazing Race 5 on CBS. The maze seems to be modeled after the actual Stockyards cattlepens which you will see as you scroll down this page.

Looking down on the Fort Worth Stockyard's Cowtown Cattlepen Maze from the Observation Deck.

Looking down on the maze from the Observation Deck. There is another deck inside the maze that maze runners can go up to try and figure out how to get out.

Signage on the Cowtown Cattlepen Maze with instructions and admission cost information.

Instructions and admission info signs for the Cowtown Cattlepen Maze.

A photo of the outdoor patio gardens of Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Dishes..

The most popular and famous restaurant in the Stockyards Historical District is Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Dishes. Joe T's has a large indoor area, but the attraction which has made it famous is the Fiesta Gardens. One square city block of beautiful outdoor seating. Each weekend thousands converge on Joe T's for food and fun on the patio.

In this photo we see a Dallas power broker conducting some business on the phone.

Here we see a Dallas power broker negotiating a deal by the pool at Joe T's Fiesta Gardens. She appears to be shooing away the paparazzi.

NOTE: The pool at Joe T.'s is no more.

Crossed Eye Moose Antiques on Main Street in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

A very colorful mural covers the south wall of the Cross-Eyed Moose Antique store. An equally colorful mural also covers the Cross-Eyed Moose bus. The Cross-Eyed Moose is located on Main Street across from the decrepit old New Isis Theater with its long stalled promise of a new New Isis Theater.

WHERE TO STAY: HOTEL LODGING IN THE STOCKYARDS
If you are looking for a place to stay in the Fort Worth Stockyards there is the Texas Hotel, Miss Molly's Bed & Breakfast, Stonehouse Bed & Breakfast, Stockyards Hotel, Hotel Texas and the newest and biggest, AmeriSuites Stockyards (photo below).

VISIT THE OFFICIAL FORT WORTH STOCKYARDS WEBSITE FOR THE LATEST STOCKYARDS INFO

Cardona's Cantina in Stockyards Station with the new AmeriSuites Stockyards hovering above.

In the foreground Cardona's Cantina Mexican Restaurant and Bar, located in Stockyards Station at the west end of Exchange Avenue. In the background, hovering above Stockyards Station, is the new AmeriSuites Stockyards.

A photo of the Fort Worth trolley making its pass by the world's biggest honky tonk, Billy Bob's of Texas.

Billy Bob's of Texas. The world's largest honkytonk. Billy Bob's is huge, with 32 bars, an indoor rodeo arena, giant dance floors. It's a spectacle. Here we see the Fort Worth Trolley making a stop in front of Billy Bob's on its circuit between Downtown, the Cultural District and the Stockyards.

*According to the Fort Worth Transit Authority website the trolley fare is now $1.25 for a one-way trip. It is not known if the reduced fare has increased ridership on the usually empty trolleys.

A photo of a pair of cowgirls in cowgirl hats inside the Fort Worth Stockyard's Stockyard Station.

A pair of Cowgirls off their horses inside Stockyard Station.

This photo shows the boardwalk about the actual Fort Worth Stockyard cattle pens with the downtown Fort Worth skyline in the background.

A rare view of the actual Stockyards, with Downtown Fort Worth about 4 miles south. A boardwalk takes you over the top of the Stockyard pens. It runs from behind Billy Bob's to behind the Fort Worth Stock Exchange building. Explore around and you'll find your way onto this part of the Stockyards. You'll also likely get some close up looks at longhorns and sometimes other critters, like pigs, depending on what event is taking place at the Stockyards.

This photo shows the aforementioned Fort Worth herd from the boardwalk above the cattle pens.

The Fort Worth Herd viewed from the boardwalk above the Stockyards. Twice a day (weather permitting) cowboys drive the herd through the heart of the Stockyards.

Watch a short video of the Fort Worth Herd
Cattle Drive through the Stockyards

Memorials to heroes of the west, the Texas Trail of Fame, sort of like Hollywood's Walk of Stars, are embedded in the sidewalk along Exchange Avenue.

Wild West Weekends
Saturdays and Sundays during Summer Tourist season
In addition to the Daily Drive of the Fort Worth Herd the following is all free of charge except for the Pawnee Bill Show.

11:45 pm... Legends of Texas Gunfight Show
12:00 pm...Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame RODEO ZONE
1:30 pm.... Fort Worth Herd CowKid Roundup
2:00 pm.... Live Music on Stockyards Station Stage begins
2:30 pm.... Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show at Cowtown Coliseum
4:15 pm.... Legends of Texas Gunfight Show

Watch video we took March 13, 2010 on a busy Saturday in the Fort Worth Stockyards

A photo of the Fort Worth Stock Exchange Building at the Fort Worth Stockyards.

The aforementioned Fort Worth Stock Exchange building, the reason Exchange Street is called Exchange Street. From the name it is a good guess that cattle trading takes place here.

The Cowtown Coliseum where the Fort Worth Stockyards Championship Rodeo takes place. Also Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show takes place here.

The Cowtown Coliseum. The Stockyards Championship Rodeo takes place every Friday and Saturday night at 8 pm.. Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show starts June 9, 2007, Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm. There is some fancy shooting during Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show. During a Stockyards street event the Cowtown Coliseum offers reliable escape from the heat.

The story of Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving is told during the Wild West Show here. They were the inspiration for Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove. This pair of cowboys is mentioned often in the Stockyards.

A photo of one of the Fort Worth Stockyards longhorns and its cowboy to whom tourists can pay a small fee to get to take a photo sitting on the cow.

A cowboy (pseudo) and his Longhorn. This is the same Longhorn on which Big Ed was sitting for his famous wild cowboy photo. For a very small fee you can sit on the Longhorn. But be sure to pay the fee. There have been incidents where the cowboy and his Longhorn have chased a tourist who felt snookered by the payment request.

A photo of a Shiner Bock delivery truck re-supplying the White Elephant Saloon in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Just like in Downtown Fort Worth's Sundance Square there are many libation purveyors in the Stockyards and it is a daily ritual re-supplying them. Here we see a Shiner Bock truck parked under the Stockyards sign outside the White Elephant Saloon....Shiner is the state beer of Texas. It is brewed in a little town called Shiner. Hence the name.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF THE 2008 FORT WORTH STOCKYARDS EASTER EGG HUNT

You can find plenty of places to do some boot scooting, beer drinking, music listening or a combo of all three in the Stockyards. There's Billy Bob's Texas, Longhorn Saloon, Neon Moon Saloon, Pearl's Dancehall & Saloon, Stockyards Saloon, The Cantina Cadillac, White Elephant Saloon, Booger Red's Saloon (where you can get Buffalo Butt Beer), The Rockyard and The Door .

West Exchange, site of 5 different clubs and saloons.

A new nightlife locale at the Stockyards called West Exchange, so named because it is on the West part of Exchange Street, the Stockyards main drag. West Exchange is 5 different clubs where you pay one cover charge and can go to all 5. There is a sports bar, G'Dub's, a Coyote Ugly type place called Tricky's Cowgirls, Widgie's Karoke, Pat's Dueling Pianos and Spinner's Blues Bar.

West Exchange opened in June. By August the venue was in trouble, unable to pay its bills, all but 2 of the clubs closed. Widgie's Karoke and Spinner's Blue Bar are the two remaining open. Owners hope to become solvent soon. In the meantime, the BBQ Ribs at Riscky's are delicious.

A photo of the General Store at the intersection of Exchange and Main where it is claimed that this is the spot Where the West Begins. At Fort Worth's Stockyards.

It seems that the General Store at the heart of the Stockyards on the west side of the intersection of Exchange Avenue and Main Street is claiming to be the actual spot Where the West Begins.

A photo of the Big Balls of Cowtown honky tonk saloon at the Fort Worth Stockyards.

The infamous Big Balls of Cowtown, honky tonk by night, subject of a song heard round the world. Big Balls of Cowtown is a very modern place as you will see when you click this thumbnail. Check out these other Stockyard locales with modern amenities.

Do not fail to click modern amenities

STOCKYARDS SHOPS & RESTAURANTS

Although there is still much of the actual old Stockyards still in existence and able to be explored there is plenty that is new in the Stockyards with dozens of shops including an art gallery, clothing shops, a wine store, jewelry, pottery, souvenir and much more. You will also find many restaurants in the Stockyards, to name just a few there is Riscky's BBQ, The Love Shack, Cowtown Fudge & Creamery, H3 Ranch, Cattlemen's Fort Worth Steakhouse, Riscky's Steakhouse, Cardona's Mexican Restaurant, Lonesome Dove Bistro, Los Vaqueros Restaurant, Sarsaparilla Salon, The Star Cafe, Trail Boss Burgers and Billy Bob's Texas Bar B Que.

A photo looking west up Exchange Avenue with the Stockyards Station sign hanging above this end of the street in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

The east end of the main drag of the Stockyards, also known as Exchange Avenue. This photo is a good example of what sometimes surprises visitors to the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas. That being that there is a lot of greenery, as you can see here, on the first day of Fall. You are looking west in this photo at the Stockyards Station sign that hangs above this end of Exchange Avenue.

Inside Fort Worth Stockyard's Stockyard Station looking at Riscky's Barbecue.

The photo to the left was taken before noon. So the feeding establishments weren't open yet. In a few hours the outdoor patio at Riscky's Barbecue will be filled with people eating all the ribs they can eat. Riskcy's tastes good. On Friday and Saturday nights a stage is set up across the street and this becomes a very entertaining place to spend a couple hours. Riscky's Barbecue is inside Stockyard Station, which consists of restaurants and shops and through which the Tarantula Trains runs. The Tarantula Train Station is inside Stockyard Station. The train sets there while the engine continues on across the street near the Cowtown Cattlepen Maze where a huge rotating mechanism turns the engine around so it can take off on another track in order to re-enter Stockyard Station from the back side of the parked train so it can re-connect in order to pull the train to its other station, that being the other end of the Tarantula route in the town of Grapevine.

The Tarantula Train's water tower next to the Cowtown Cattlepen Maze across from Stockyards Station in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

The Tarantula Train's water tower. When you have a steam powered train engine you need water. Here we are looking north, across from Stockyards Station, towards the roundtable turnaround that sends the Tarantula Train back to Grapevine. The Cowtown Cattlepen Maze is to the right. The Cowtown Mechanical Bull is to the left.

The Tarantula Train is the oldest continuously operating steam engine in the South, with the slight caveat that "Puffy" the 1896 Steam Locomotive #2248 has been off-line for awhile undergoing maintenance, which is understandable for a piece of equipment over 110 years old. Taking "Puffy's" place is a 1953 Vintage Diesel engine. Passengers on the Tarantula Train ride in 1920s era Victorian style coaches.

The roundtable that turns around the Tarantula Train.

A closer look at the Tarantula Train roundtable turnaround. If you've ridden San Francisco's cable cars you've likely helped with a roundtable turnaround. In the Stockyards passengers do not need to help turn the engine around. It manages the feat all by itself.

"Puffy" the Tarantula Train's 1896 steam engine getting turned around so it can head back into Stockyards Station and hook up with its coaches.

"Puffy," the elderly vintage 1896 Steam engine, getting turned around. It was soon after this photo was taken that "Puffy" went on an extended vacation to get some much needed rehabilitation.

TARANTULA TRAIN SCHEDULE & FARE INFO

January - No Train Service
February - March - Friday - Sunday
April - August - Thursday - Sunday
September - December - Friday - Sunday

On-line ticket sales are not available after 6:00 a.m. on the day of the trip. Tickets may be purchased at the Depot on a first-come, first-served basis. To ensure availability, it is best to purchase your tickets at least 30 minutes prior to departure. On-line ticket purchases are available for future dates.
Depot hours: Grapevine 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Stockyards 12:00 noon- 4:30 p.m.

Grapevine to Fort Worth Stockyards
(Round Trip)
Friday - Sunday
Departs Grapevine - 1:00pm
Arrives Stockyards - 2:30pm
Departs Stockyards - 4:45pm
Arrives Grapevine - 6:00pm

TRAIN FARES - Round Trip

Grapevine to Fort Worth Stockyards
Adult $20.00 (One Way $14.00)
Child (3-12) $10.00 (One Way $7.00)
Senior (55+) $18.00 (One Way $12.00)
NO REFUNDS

Grapevine to Fort Worth Stockyards
Depart: Grapevine 1:00pm
Arrive: Fort Worth Stockyard 2:30pm

It's almost 11. Time to find a place to watch the Fort Worth Herd....

We're going to leave the Stockyards for a moment and comment on a Stockyards related issue. There are two exits from the I-35 freeway, with exit signs telling drivers this is the way to the Fort Worth Stockyards. Neither of these freeway exits is landscaped, both are usually heavily littered. Is there any other tourist attraction in America where the freeway exits are this unkempt? The photo you see to the right is the view when you take the northbound exit to Northside Drive.

A photo of the littered exit from I-35 West, one of 2 freeway exits to the Fort Worth StockYards National Historical District.

Northside Drive exit to the Fort Worth Stockyards. Photo taken June 29, 2007. There is less litter than we usually see here.

If you have had the pleasure of driving in other parts of the nation, the West Coast for example, you may have noticed that many towns and cities landscape their freeway exits. And keep them cleaned up. For example, in the photo on the right you see the freeway exit from I-5 into the town of Mount Vernon, Washington, population 26,232. Fort Worth's population is 624,067, almost 24 times bigger than little Mount Vernon, yet little Mount Vernon manages to landscape and keep tidy all 3 of its I-5 freeway exits, while Fort Worth's exits to its most popular tourist attraction are littered eyesore messes.

A photo showing a litter free freeway exit in Mount Vernon, Washington.

Kincaid Street exit to downtown Mount Vernon, Washington. Photo taken November 3, 2006. In the spring in this view you would see tulips and other flowers. And no litter.

email feedback