Hell's 1/2 Acre - Fort Worth Stockyards - Fort Worth, TX
N 32° 47.436 W 097° 20.943
14S E 654597 N 3629279
"Hell's Half Acre" was a notorious section of the southern part of downtown Fort Worth, where the rule of thumb was "anything goes." This archway, farther north in the Fort Worth Stockyards, is a nod to that.
Waymark Code: WMVFX7
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/13/2017
Views: 11
"Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate."
While the term "Hell's Half Acre" refers to the seedy, rough and tumble areas of a given city, Fort Worth tends to be the best known of the bunch. If you've seen any Western where there's over-the-top drinking, gambling, womanizing, fighting, killing, and other activities that were popular before the invention of the cell phone, you've seen something inspired by Fort Worth's Hell's Half Acre. Bat Masterson, Belle Starr, Sam Bass and Butch Cassidy and his gang, including the Sundance Kid, are among the many who passed the time here: In fact, the famous 1900 John Swartz photo of Butch and the Wild Bunch was taken in Fort Worth, and despite their nasty reputation, Sundance Square is a nod to Butch's partner in crime.
This gateway arch, topped with a neon sign, stands on the east side of N Main Street, just north of its intersection with Northwest 25th Street. The sign features a star and "Hell's 1/2 Acre", and the arch leads into Rodeo Plaza, where there is dining, entertainment (like the famous Billy Bob's Texas), and shopping.
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