Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Fort Worth Stock Yards Company publicist Charles C. French and local cattleman Charles C. McFarland oranized the first livestock show in north Fort Worth in 1896. Members of the Texas Cattle Raisers Association (TCRA) participated in the initial show. The Fort Worth Stock Yards Company built a new coliseum in north Fort Worth in 1908 with the help of TCRA members. That year the National Feeders and Breeders Show opened with various events including a cutting horse competition and a horse show. The event, renamed the Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show in 1918, included an indoor rodeo competition, youth activities, and a debutante social pagent popularized by the City's more prominent citizens. In 1943 the show's facilities were converted for U.S. military purposes and the show was canceled. In 1944 the show relocated to this site which included a coliseum, auditorium,and a memorial Tower erected in 1936 as part of the Texas Centennial celebration. The show was renamed the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show in 1988. By 1995 the Show had become a 17-day multimillion-dollar premier rodeo, equine, livestock, and exhibition event with an annual draw of about 800,000 people. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845-1995.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
What began in 1896 as a modest livestock show organized by Fort Worth Stock Yards men and Texas cattle raisers grew, decade by decade, into one of the great institutions of the cattle world. A 1908 coliseum brought horse shows and cutting competitions; by 1918 the renamed Fat Stock Show had added what is often called the first indoor rodeo, along with youth events and society pageantry. After relocating to this site in 1944, it swelled into a multimillion-dollar, weeks-long rodeo and exhibition drawing hundreds of thousands.
Why it matters
The show helped turn the ranching economy of the open range into an enduring civic ritual, and cemented Fort Worth's identity as the place 'where the West begins.'
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Related people
- · Charles C. French
- · Charles C. McFarland
Related events
- · National Feeders and Breeders Show
- · Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show
Themes & tags
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