Fort Worth Heritage Trails - The Sleeping Panther - Fort Worth, TX
N 32° 45.418 W 097° 19.952
14S E 656203 N 3625574
Fort Worth Heritage Trails sign giving some background on why cats are so frequently associated with the City of Fort Worth, TX.
Waymark Code: WMJ8CR
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/10/2013
Views: 6
This sign is located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Main and Weatherford Streets, on the grounds of the Tarrant County Administration Building, across from the Tarrant County Courthouse. It is different from the others in the series in that it's not a brown sign with gold lettering. Instead, it's a granite slab with the following inscription:
In 1873, economic overexpansion sparked a nationwide depression lasting more than five years. Banks, railroads, and other companies went bankrupt. Labor and investment capital streamed out of Fort Worth. The young city scaled down its operations. Many believed Fort Worth to be doomed. Robert E. Cowart, a former resident of Fort Worth who practiced law in Dallas, wrote the Dallas Herald that he "had been to a meeting in Fort Worth the other day and things were so quiet he had seen a panther asleep on Main Street, undisturbed by the rush of men or the hum of trade."
B.B. Paddock, editor of the Fort Worth Democrat, took these comments as a challenge and had a new masthead engraved with a panther lying in front of the bluff and the motto: "Where the panther laid down." The nickname "Panther City" stuck. There were panther stores, meat markets, and saloons. A pair of live panthers were mascots for Fort Worth's fire department. The panther has been used as a mascot (Fort Worth Cats baseball team and R.L. Paschal High School Panthers), for entertainment venues (Panther Hall), as building decoration (the Flatiron Building and the Blackstone Hotel) and as a design element (Fort Worth Police badges). The intended insult has become an enduring symbol of the city's strength.
Made possible through the generous support of the Dorothea Leonhardt Fund, Communities Foundation of Texas, Paschal High School Class of 1955, Sundance Square, Deran Wright, sculptor, Hoka Hey Foundry and the Fort Worth Chamber Foundation.
Group that erected the marker: Fort Worth Heritage Trails/City of Fort Worth
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
100 E Weatherford
Fort Worth, TX USA
76196
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Visit Instructions:
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