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Cowtown

Fort Worth architecture

Fort Worth began in 1849 as an army outpost on a bluff above the Trinity River and grew into a center of the Texas Longhorn cattle trade, which earned it the nickname Cowtown. Today it is the fourth-most populous city in Texas and pairs its cowboy heritage with museums designed by Louis Kahn, Tadao Ando and Philip Johnson.

  • 14Landmarks
  • 1890Oldest · Fort Worth Stockyards
  • 173 mTallest · Burnett Plaza
  • 11Architects

Before you go

  • Fly intoDallas/Fort Worth (DFW)

    Opened in 1974 roughly halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth, DFW covers more than 17,000 acres, making it the second-largest airport in the United States by land area after Denver. It is American Airlines' largest hub and even runs its own police, fire and emergency medical services.

  • CurrencyUS Dollar ($)
  • LanguageEnglish

    Locals speak English with a warm North Texas drawl, and 'y'all' is the everyday way to address a group. The city's motto, 'Where the West Begins,' sums up the friendly, unhurried Western spirit you'll hear in conversation.

  • Getting aroundTEXRail

    TEXRail runs 27.2 miles from T&P Station in downtown Fort Worth to Terminal B at DFW Airport, serving nine stations. The Trinity Railway Express links downtown Fort Worth with downtown Dallas, and Fort Worth Central Station is the main transfer hub for Trinity Metro's buses.

  • Where to stayFind hotels in Fort Worth on Expedia Vacation rentals on Vrbo

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  • Tours and ticketsFind tours in Fort Worth on GetYourGuide More tours on Viator

    Skip-the-line tickets and guided tours of the landmarks. Stamped! may earn a commission.

14 landmarks in Fort Worth

  1. Kimbell Art Museum
    Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Kimbell Art Museum

    Fort Worth Cultural District, Fort Worth, TX

    Louis Kahn's Kimbell, opened in October 1972, is often hailed as one of the most significant works of architecture of recent times. Its galleries sit beneath 16 parallel cycloid vaults, each about 100 feet long, made of post-tensioned concrete shells only five inches thick. Natural light washes across the vaulted ceilings, while travertine-faced walls and lead-sheathed roofs complete the calm palette. In 2013 the museum added an 85,000-square-foot pavilion designed by Renzo Piano.

    Built
    1972
    Architect
    Louis Kahn
    Style
    Modernism
    Today
    Museum
  2. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
    Photo: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

    3200 Darnell St, Fort Worth, TX 76107

    Founded back in 1892, the Modern opened its new home by Japanese architect Tadao Ando to the public on December 14, 2002. The design sets three long pavilions into a reflecting pond, so the galleries seem to rise straight out of the water. Inside, about 53,000 square feet of gallery space is devoted to exhibitions of modern art. It is one of the anchors of Fort Worth's Cultural District, alongside the Kimbell.

    Built
    2002
    Architect
    Tadao Ando
    Style
    Modernism
    Stories
    3
    Today
    Museum
  3. Amon Carter Museum of American Art
    Photo: Steven Watson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Amon Carter Museum of American Art

    3501 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76107

    Philip Johnson's 'jewel box' opened in January 1961 on a gently sloping hillside, its portico facing east toward the downtown skyline. Arches and columns clad in creamy Texas shellstone frame a two-story glass curtain wall with bronze mullions. Johnson returned to expand his own building in 1977 and again in 2001, when a wing clad in dark granite added a 55-foot atrium called the Lantern. The museum is devoted to American art.

    Built
    1961
    Today
    Museum
  4. Fort Worth Water Gardens
    Photo: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Fort Worth Water Gardens

    Commerce St, Fort Worth, TX

    Designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee and dedicated in 1974, this 4.3-acre urban park is a sculpture you can walk through. In the Active Pool, water cascades 38 feet down terraces and steps into a small pool at the bottom. The Quiet Pool is ringed by cypress trees and tall walls veiled in thin sheets of falling water, while the Aerated Pool sparkles with illuminated spray fountains. Scenes from the 1976 film Logan's Run were shot in the Active Pool.

    Built
    1974
    Style
    Modernism
    Today
    Park
  5. Bass Performance Hall
    Photo: Phlyr at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Bass Performance Hall

    525 Commerce St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

    Opened in May 1998, this limestone performance hall by David M. Schwarz brings old-world grandeur to downtown's Sundance Square. Its facade is guarded by two 48-foot angels carved from Texas limestone by sculptor Marton Varo. Inside, the Founders Concert Theater is crowned by an 80-foot dome painted by Scott and Stuart Gentling. The $65 million hall seats just over 2,000 people.

    Built
    1998
    Architect
    David M. Schwarz & HKS Architects
    Style
    New Classical
    Today
    Concert Hall
  6. Tarrant County Courthouse
    Photo: Renelibrary, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Tarrant County Courthouse

    Houston St & Weatherford St, Fort Worth, TX

    Built between 1893 and 1895 from pink Texas granite, this Renaissance Revival courthouse closely resembles the Texas State Capitol, apart from its clock tower. Designed by Frederick C. Gunn and Louis Curtiss, it cost $408,840, a sum citizens saw as such a public extravagance that they elected a new County Commissioners' Court in 1894. Its clock tower was restored in a $4.5 million renovation completed in 2012. The courthouse still anchors the north end of downtown Fort Worth.

    Built
    1895
    Architect
    Frederick C. Gunn & Louis Curtiss
    Style
    Renaissance Revival
    Today
    Courthouse
  7. Fort Worth Stockyards
    Photo: Renelibrary, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Fort Worth Stockyards

    Stockyards Historic District, Fort Worth, TX

    The Fort Worth Union Stockyards opened for business on January 19, 1890, cementing Fort Worth's reputation as Cowtown. A 98-acre historic district, listed on the National Register in 1976, preserves 46 contributing buildings in the Mission and Spanish Revival style, including the Livestock Exchange Building and the Cowtown Coliseum. Today the old livestock market is mainly a district of shops, bars and weekend rodeos with a Western motif. Weather permitting, a cattle drive still parades through twice a day.

    Built
    1890
    Style
    Mission / Spanish Revival
    Today
    Historic District / Entertainment

  8. T&P Station

    221 W Lancaster Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76102

    Wyatt C. Hedrick's Texas and Pacific passenger terminal opened on October 25, 1931, in the Zigzag Moderne style of Art Deco. Zigzags and chevrons decorate the building, while the opulent lobby features marble floors, metal-inlaid panel ceilings and nickel and brass fixtures. Its upper floors have since been converted into condominiums. Passenger trains returned in 2001, and today the restored terminal serves Trinity Railway Express and TEXRail commuters.

    Built
    1931
    Style
    Art Deco (Zigzag Moderne)
    Today
    Railway Station / Residential
  9. Burnett Plaza
    Photo: 0ccam, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Burnett Plaza

    801 Cherry St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

    Completed in 1983, Burnett Plaza rises 567 feet as the tallest building in Fort Worth. Its 40 floors hold more than one million square feet of offices and retail, making it the city's largest office tower. The block-sized complex sits beside a public urban park downtown. It is a towering example of Brutalism on the city's skyline.

    Built
    1983
    Style
    Brutalism
    Height
    173 m (567 ft)
    Stories
    40
    Today
    Office
  10. Will Rogers Memorial Center
    Photo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

    Will Rogers Memorial Center

    3401 W Lancaster Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76107

    Named for humorist Will Rogers, this 120-acre complex was built in 1936 by Wyatt C. Hedrick in the Moderne style of Art Deco. It includes the 5,652-seat Will Rogers Coliseum, the 2,856-seat Will Rogers Auditorium and the landmark Pioneer Tower. The statue 'Riding into the Sunset', commissioned by Amon G. Carter, was unveiled here in 1947. Its entertainment, sports and livestock events draw more than two million visitors a year.

    Built
    1936
    Style
    Art Deco
    Today
    Exhibition Center / Arena
  11. Flatiron Building
    Photo: Renelibrary, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Flatiron Building

    1000 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

    Completed in 1907 at the corner of Houston and West 9th streets, this wedge-shaped building was one of Fort Worth's first steel-frame buildings and the tallest in North Texas at the time. Dr. Bacon Saunders commissioned it for $70,000, originally calling it Saunders' Triangle Building, and kept the top floor for his offices. Plans for ten stories were cut to seven after the Panic of 1907. Sanguinet & Staats gave it a two-story base, a five-story body and a cast-iron cornice.

    Built
    1907
    Architect
    Sanguinet & Staats
    Style
    Renaissance Revival
    Stories
    7
    Today
    Commercial / Event Space
  12. Sinclair Building
    Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Sinclair Building

    512 Main St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

    Wiley G. Clarkson's 16-story tower opened in 1930 as the Dulaney Building at the corner of Fifth and Main. Rising 200 feet, it is a showpiece of Zigzag Moderne, standing alongside two other Art Deco landmarks, the Kress Building and the Blackstone Hotel. After decades as offices, it was bought in 2013 and converted into an upscale hotel in Marriott's Autograph Collection.

    Built
    1930
    Architect
    Wiley G. Clarkson
    Style
    Art Deco (Zigzag Moderne)
    Height
    61 m (200 ft)
    Stories
    16
    Today
    Hotel
  13. St. Patrick Cathedral
    Photo: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    St. Patrick Cathedral

    1206 Throckmorton St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

    Begun in 1888 and dedicated in 1892, St. Patrick is the Catholic cathedral of Fort Worth and the seat of its bishop. Architect James J. Kane designed the church, whose style blends Gothic Revival with Second Empire touches. The cathedral, its rectory and St. Ignatius Academy form a complex listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Both the church and the academy are also Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks.

    Built
    1892
    Architect
    James J. Kane
    Style
    Gothic Revival
    Today
    Cathedral
  14. Fort Worth Public Market
    Photo: Renelibrary, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Fort Worth Public Market

    1400 Henderson St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

    Designed by Oklahoma City native B. Gaylord Noftsger, this Spanish Colonial Revival market hall opened to the public on June 20, 1930. Developer John J. Harden spent $150,000 on the building. At its peak it housed 145 farmer and vendor stalls and 30 permanent retail shops. The landmark was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

    Built
    1930
    Architect
    B. Gaylord Noftsger
    Style
    Spanish Colonial Revival
    Today
    Historic Building

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