The Active Historian

Hey, friend! Welcome back to another post. Today, I want to share the history of the Fort Worth Livestock Exchange building with you. Let’s get started!

*The photos I took are from March 2024 and May 2025.

History

The Fort Worth Stockyards were incorporated on March 23, 1893. “Cowtown” as many people called it, had operated since the trail days when cowboys would stop for supplies. In mid-1876, railroad men built cattle pens to help bolster the industry. They hoped to draw packing plants to their community. A decade later, four stockyards companies were operating, and the Union Stock Yards were opened in July 1887. The Fort Worth Packing Company opened two years later.

In 1893, the Union Stock Yards and the Fort Worth Packing Company were sold to Greenleif Simpson and associates. In 1896, the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show was started.

Simpson and Louville V. Nile formed an agreement with Armour and Swift which brought in two large meatpacking companies next to the Stockyards in 1902. The Livestock Exchange Building in the Fort Worth Stockyards was built in 1902 as a hub for cattlemen. Some people referred to it as “The Wall Street of the West.” Unfortunately, the architect for the building is unknown. It was built in the Mission Revival Style with roughcast stucco and a tiled roof. It is two stories tall and built in a U-shape. I wasn’t able to find details about construction of the building in the newspapers, but I did find this photo published in 1904 of the completed building!

The Fort Worth Livestock Exchange was named a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1968. The building underwent renovations from 1977-1978 and still stands within the boundary lines of the Fort Worth Stockyards Historic District.

Today, the Fort Worth Livestock Exchange Building houses the North Fort Worth Historical Society, Fort Worth Stockyards Museum, and other professional offices. I loved walking around the museum and seeing all of the neat Fort Worth history – click on the link above to read my blog post!

Historic Markers

There were two historic markers in front of the Livestock Exchange and I have transcribed both of them below for you.

Fort Worth Livestock Exchange

“Headquarters, one of greatest cattle markets in the world.

In late 1860’s Fort Worth was stop on cattle trails. Market for West Texas organized 1870’s. First trader, T.B. Saunders, Sr., soon was joined by others.

First small baking houses were followed (early 1900’s) by multi-million dollar plants. By 1910 trading almost doubled. 

This structure was erected in 1902-03 to house the Stockyards Company, Livestock Commission, and Buyers’ Offices, surrounded by lawns (now parking lots). In 1944, was purchased by United Stockyards Corporation.”

Fort Worth Stockyards Company

“The Fort Worth Stock Yards Company was created in 1893, when Boston Capitalist Greenlief W. Simpson led a group of investors in purchasing the Fort Worth Union Stock Yards. Under Simpson’s leadership, the Company earned the support of the Texas Cattle Raisers Association and lured the prominent meatpacking companies of Armour and Swift to open plants here. Publicity through the Company’s market newspaper and annual Fat Stock Show, both begun in 1896, resulted in a significant increase in the number of animals brought to market. The Stock Yards Co. built the area’s livestock-related facilities and had controlling interest in many North Fort Worth businesses and properties. 

The first five decades of the 20th century were the most successful for the Fort Worth Stock Yards Co. During World War I, foreign governments purchased draft animal, making Fort Worth the largest horse and mule market in the world. In 1917, overall livestock market receipts reached 3,500,000 and in 1944, sales exceeded 5,000,000 head of livestock. However, by the 1950s, local auctions were drawing sellers away from this central market. Today the Fort Worth Stock Yards Co. continues as a significant part of the city’s unique heritage.”

Concluding Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed learning more about this historic building! I’ve written several other posts on the historic Fort Worth Stockyards so make sure to check them you!

Happy Traveling! I’ll talk to ya soon 🙂

Visit

131 E Exchange Avenue

Fort Worth, TX 76164

Sources

Secondary Sources

Websites

“Fort Worth Live Stock Exchange – Exchange.” Historic Fort Worth.

“Livestock Exchange Building.” Visit Fort Worth.

“Livestock Exchange Building.” Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District.

J’Nell L. Pate. “The History of the Fort Worth Stock Yards: From Cattle Hub to Tourist Attraction.” Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association.

Primary Sources

Newspapers

“Local Livestock Exchange Formed.” The Fort Worth Record and Register (Fort Worth, Texas), October 26, 1901.

“Texas Cattlement Here For Convention Today.” The Fort Worth Record and Register (Fort Worth, Texas), March 8, 1904.