Woody-Kutch Livestock Commission Company
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1920, brothers-in-law Joseph Casner Woody (1880-1950) and Jefferson Davis Kutch, Jr. (1890-1990) were both active in the Fort Worth Stock Yards Company, a central buying location for regional cattle and sheep ranchers and hog farmers. They incorporated the Woody-Kutch Livestock Commission Company of North Fort Worth in 1923, with Woody as president and Kutch as vice president. Their office in the Livestock Exchange Building was a clearinghouse to process receipts of sales. For all its activity and volume of business, the building which housed 48 livestock commission companies was known as the "Wall Street of the West." After Woody's death, Kutch and J.D. Farmer started Farmer-Kutch Livestock Commission Company, which operated until 1981. (2019)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Brothers-in-law Joseph Casner Woody and Jefferson Davis Kutch, Jr. worked in the bustling Fort Worth Stock Yards and in 1923 incorporated their own livestock commission company to process the sales of regional cattle, sheep, and hog producers. They operated from the Livestock Exchange Building—home to 48 such firms and known as the "Wall Street of the West"—until Woody's death, after which Kutch launched a successor firm that ran until 1981.
Why it matters
The company reflects the era when Fort Worth's stockyards were a national hub of the cattle economy, brokering the livestock trade that built the West.
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Related people
- · Joseph Casner Woody
- · Jefferson Davis Kutch, Jr.
Themes & tags
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