"Stockyards, It's my Backyard.." - Casey Donahew Band

    

                                   Photo Credit: http://ac.varsity.com/images/additional/AS-StockYard.jpg

     Fort Worth is the 16th largest city in the United States. According to Fort Worth's Official Website, the city contains an "unmistakable mix of preserved Western heritage and unrivaled artistic offerings." Fort Worth offers quite a bit of cowboy culture combined with upscale, modern style. The Stockyards is such a fun and unique place to go, especially around Rodeo time. It is a nice way to remember that Fort Worth is indeed a town full of great history and culture. Nowadays, people can be fooled into thinking that Fort Worth is all about the modern 7th Street area or the prestigious downtown night life.

     I have lived in Fort Worth my entire life and I think it is EXTREMELY easy to overlook the history of the town. We were the final stop on the famous Chisholm Trail, and Fort Worth still hosts the world's only twice-daily cattle drive in the Stockyards. Eventually a railroad was built through the area that is now the Stockyard making it a premiere livestock center. Bonnie and Clyde even hid out from the law at the Stockyards Hotel.

          I feel like this is a really important part of Fort Worth because most of us still have a little bit of that good ole Southern hospitality. I was raised in a city where men hold doors open for women... women don't wear white after labor day... we go to church on Sundays... men take off their hats during the national anthem... and we all enjoy a good glass of sweet tea in the summer heat.

Sources: www.fortworth.com