Hell's Half Acre (Fort Worth)

Hell's Half Acre (Fort Worth)

Texas historical marker located at 12th and Houston street
Location Tarrant County, Texas
Nearest city Fort Worth, Texas
Coordinates 32°45′01″N 97°19′42″W / 32.75028°N 97.32833°W / 32.75028; -97.32833Coordinates: 32°45′01″N 97°19′42″W / 32.75028°N 97.32833°W / 32.75028; -97.32833
Area .5 acres (0.20 ha)
Elevation 610 feet (190 m)
Formed 1870s
Governing body State of Texas
Official name: Hell's Half Acre - Tarrant County - Fort Worth
Designated 1993
Marker Number 2431
Atlas Number 5439002431
Location within Texas

Hell's Half Acre was a rough and rowdy precinct of Fort Worth, Texas originating during the early to mid 1870s in the Old Wild West.

Fort Worth, Texas in 1876

The half acre block was originally designated from tenth street to fifteenth street while intersecting with Houston street, Main street, and Rusk street with Throckmorton and Calhoun streets established as boundaries. The Chisholm Trail and Texas and Pacific Railway were branded as the economic driving force leading to the progressive development of the rambunctious red-light district.

Hell's Half Acre consisted of boarding houses, brothels, gambling parlours, hotels, saloons, and a sparse assortment of mercantile businesses. The twenty-two thousand square foot ward caught the glimpse of such Old West personalities as Bat Masterson, Butch Cassidy, Doc Holliday, Etta Place, Luke Short, Sam Bass, Sundance Kid, and Wyatt Earp.

By 1919, Fort Worth's "Third Ward" was disavowed as a den of iniquity due to the law enforcement efforts of Jim Courtright and the Protestant orations of John Franklyn Norris.

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