Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-12-28
TIM. s.H,,l,s H,,f Acre.

am a mechanic with reasonably large fam
lily Of children that am endeavoring to raise
up to future usefulness. wish to locate them
in some live and progressive place where thew
viii be able to take care OF tn ems elves after I
am no longer able to care for them. Fort
Worth's good name for push and progressive
ness seems to make her about fill my bill but
for one shadow that appears in the way. Noting
your fra nkness in replying to correspondents
has led me 70 think Of writing you for plain
the papers good deal about the exceedingly
bad morals of Fort Worth. Those papers hold
lies am an extensive f district known as %Hsirs
Half Acre. which, from all accounts, must DO
q m ost terrible place in point OF morals Being
fearful influence. don't know what to think
of a city thai would make pet OF such q dis
trict by building up around it. If not asking
particular,e Is Fort Worth for her ..Heip $ Half
Acre. or is "Hell's Hal. Acre. for Fo-t
Worth? Enclosed is stamp for reply Hoping
the thing may not be SO bad as sounded
abroad, am J. S. K.
Breckenridge. Tex.
This letter was evidently not intended
for publication, but since 1t is but one of
ssvC rsl on the same subject received by
us within the past month or so, We have
concluded to print It, withholding the
full name of the writer in order that We
may be the better understood In q sweep
ing reply to all concerned.
There never existed q mora preposter-
Gus idea than that the city of Fort
Worth has built I'D around a terrible
'eyesore' known rs 'Hell's Half
Acre. There Is no s'Hell' . Half Acre.
here. Fort Worth has no more bad pso-
pie in proportion to population than you
will fiud in any prosperous city-really
not near SO many as are to be found in
many of the older and suppossd-to-be
more settled places further east. Biz
mingham, Ala. can beat US in that line
by so per cent, and even chaste old At
lanta, or Savannah, or Charleston could
either take the rag off the bush when
counting noses for bad people against
Fort Worth. We have not put New
Orleans into the list for the reason tina.
New Orleans is so we'll known as to rem
der discussion of her case in this con-
nection entirely unnecessary.
We admit that there has been q great
deal of talk through the papers about
some kind of fearful bugbear in "ths
heart of our CITY, - snd we don't deny
the point indicated but how they happen
credit of the place. When the railroads
began to come this way they conferred at
q point about one mile south of the old
town of Fort Worth. AS is natural in
such cases anew town sprung up about
the depot. 1t was not then known that
there was to be great city here, So
there were two rival towns,
and the new town thought she
had it all her own way. But
the old Fort Worth had no notion Of be- !
ing left out In the cold, so she began |
over towards the railroads. |
Small and cheap buildings were thrown
up with q regular rush until the inter- |
vening space was bridgsd, converting |
the two Fort Worths into one. Many of |
those cheap buildings still remain, but !
the city' 3 progress is crowdlng them out |
as rapidly as time will permit. Some OF |
our largest and most substantial struc- |
lures are II or on the borders of this dis |;
trict, and the great hotel soon to be |
erected will be IN the very midst of it. |
Those cheap buildings offer cheap rents, |
,f course, and those cheap rents attract |
some cheap psople, Just a. the same kind |
If thing would work in any other city. /!
At q time in the past, we don't know |
when, some extremely coarse wit denom-
mated the district ''Hell's HALF Acre. -
Il was not original with him, for there are |
He'll Half Aores,' SO called by the |
7ulgar, in most cities, but It took with |
he class TO which the naming genius be- |
ouged, and tho term Is still sometimes
lpplisd to persons who think they see witt
n it, and who are not to be commended !
IL adopts at locating the legitimate line
,ividing Sit from vulgarity. Tho better
lass Of our people know of no ''Heh,s
Half Acre" in Fort Worth. They know |
II somewhat poorly built district on the I
oint suburbs of the two original towns,