Ryan Place

HISTORY

The Ryan Place neighborhood lies approximately three miles from the Fort Worth Central Business District and is included in the 1863 W. B. Tucker Survey. The boundaries for the area are Jessamine Street to the north, the railroad tracts to the east, Berry Street on the south and 8th Ave. on the west.

Camp Worth, later called Fort Worth, was established in May of 1849, to help control Indian uprisings in the area. On the prairie south of the camp, the Joshua Ellis family settled after receiving a land grant that same year, 1849.

Fort Worth became a town and grew into a city, and in 1911, pioneer developer John C. Ryan platted what is now Ryan Place. He and his wife, Elizabeth Willing Ryan, wanted an area to rival that of "Quality Hill" on Summit and Pennsylvania Avenues, and they established the quality controls for the area that was always referred to as "elite" and "exclusive." The entrance gates on the east and west ends of Elizabeth Blvd. and on the north end of 6th Avenue marked the area as something special.

Discovery of major oil fields during this time gave impetus to the building of the stately homes along Elizabeth Blvd. and surrounding blocks.

In 1911 the first airplanes came to Fort Worth, and one under its own power landed in Ryan's Pasture, an area just south of Elizabeth Blvd. An estimated 10,000 people watched for the plane's arrival, and as it approached, the excitement became so great thousands swarmed onto the field where it was to land. The pilot, Calbraith Perry Rodgers, saw the difficulty and pretended to be landing at one edge of the field. As the crowd ran in that direction, he quickly landed on the opposite side. Fort Worth philanthropist and showman, Amon G. Carter, was one of the first to greet the pilot.

During the "Great Depression", building stopped and some houses began to deteriorate. Families moved to new suburbs and property values dropped in Ryan Place. In the 1950's the western gates were partially torn down to widen access to Elizabeth Blvd. The city planned to widen 5th and 6th Avenues into one way thoroughfares. The residents formed the Ryan Place Improvement Association in 1969 to fight the decline, closely guarding the boundaries of Ryan Place from intrusions that would bury the past. They were successful.

The Ryan Place Candlelight Tour was established to raise money to replace the gates which was accomplished in 1991. Elizabeth Blvd. if now in the National Register of Historic Places, the first in Tarrant County to be so honored. Ryan Place is the oldest intact residential neighborhood in Fort Worth.

NEIGHBORHOOD DESCRIPTION

Ryan Place is a beautiful historic neighborhood with stately trees, many broad tree-lined streets, sidewalks and ornamental streetlights. Homes on Elizabeth Blvd. and adjoining

blocks are larger and more elaborate than the homes further to the south. Architectural styles vary from Prairie Style to the Mediterranean Style home Ryan built for himself at 1302 Elizabeth Blvd. The predominant stylistic trend is Period Revival. Seventy-five percent of the homes in Ryan Place are one story structures.

NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS

The Ryan Place Improvement Association, founded in 1969, has accomplished many things. From the creation of the Ryan Place Candlelight Tour to the planting of 794 Italian Cypress trees along 8th Avenue this group is actively improving the neighborhood. Yearly activities include a July 4th Parade and sometimes a musical production, the Christmas Candlelight Tour, a Croquet Tournament in May and monitoring of city ordinances that might affect property values.

SCHOOLS

Elementary
E. M. Daggett, 958 Page, 922-6880
Montesorri School at Daggett Elementary

Middle
E. M. Daggett, 1108 Carlock, 922-6550

High School
R. L. Paschal, 3001 Forest Park Blvd., 922-6600

OTHER INFORMATION

Nearest Fire Station: 3209 Hemphill, 871-6800, emergencies 911
Nearest Medical Facilities: All major hospitals in the medical district.
Nearest Post Office: Berry Street Station, 2600 8th Ave., 924-0673
City Council District Number: 9
School Board District Number: 5
Voting Precinct Number: 1062, 1077, depending on location of house.

WILLIAMS TREW

FORT WORTH REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE

Williams Trew is a Fort Worth real estate brokerage specializing in residential real estate and offering some commercial real estate properties throughout Tarrant, Parker and Johnson Counties and serving the following cities: Aledo, Azle, Arlington, Benbrook, Burleson, Crowley, Fort Worth, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Haltom City, Keller, Kennedale, Mansfield, Mid-Cities, North Richland Hills and Watauga.