|
HISTORY
Sandy Oaks is one of the eastern most neighborhoods in Fort Worth, lying
approximately nine miles east of the Fort Worth Central Business District. It is bordered on the north by
Meadowbrook Dr., on the east by Cooke's Lane, on the south by Lancaster Ave. and on the west by Hitson Lane.
Robert R. Ramey was originally granted this land in 1857.
Cooke's Lane, which runs along the eastern border of Sandy Oaks, was named
for Jacob Cooke, who established a campground in the early 1870's for teamsters heading west for buffalo hides.
The drivers followed this dirt road north to Birdville (now Haltom City) before turning west.
In 1885, a railroad bridge just east of Sandy Oaks collapsed over Village Creek,
causing an unusual train wreck. Soon after the accident, which killed only the fireman, the locomotive disappeared
into quicksand below the bridge. It is still there.
The bridge was originally built in 1876 when the Texas & Pacific Railroad
(now the Union Pacific) came to Fort Worth from its terminal point in Dallas. Immediately after the collapse
of the bridge in 1885, 60 railroad workers, who were out on strike at the time, became heroes by returning
to rebuild the bridge.
Lancaster Avenue was named in 1931 for T & P Railway President, John L.
Lancaster. Lancaster Ave. was originally a trail connecting the settlement of Fort Worth to Johnson's Station
(now Arlington), one of the few communities in Tarrant County before the railroad. Johnson's Station was named
after M.T. Johnson, who owned the stagecoach station for the Butterfield Overland Stage and Star Mail Route.
He also operated the first post office in the county.
The Comanche Indians named the area around Johnson's Station, Marrow Bone
Springs from the large numbers of prehistoric animal bones found nearby. In 1876, soon after the T. & P
Railroad was built, Johnson's Station changed its name to Arlington.
Some early landowners around 1920, were Mrs. B.F. Tidwell and the Waples
family. In 1955, V.W. Boswell of Boswell Dairies purchased land in the area. The Boswell family still owns
some of the land, and has divided the remaining into trusts for the children of Bruce Boswell. The Boswells
also sold some of their land in 1976 for the construction of the building for radio station KFJZ.
S.A. Kell and Thomas Kell bought land in the area in 1924, selling it for the
development of the Sandy Oaks Addition in 1973. Kell Drive, originally a rural route through the area, was
named for this family and annexed by the city of Fort Worth in 1973.
|
