FORT WORTH

city, seat of Tarrant county, northern Texas, U.S. It lies at the confluence of the Clear and West forks of the Trinity River and constitutes the western part of the DallasGrand PrairieArlingtonFort Worth urban complex. Founded in 1849 by Major Ripley Arnold as a military outpost (although it was never a fort) against Comanche Indian raids, it was named for Major General William J. Worth, commander of U.S. troops in Texas at the time. After the army left in 1853, the town languished, but it revived in 1856 when, by popular vote, it displaced neighbouring Birdville as the county seat. A stopover point for longhorn cattle drives on the Chisholm Trail in the early 1870s, Fort Worth became a cattle-shipping boomtown after the Texas and Pacific Railway arrived in 1876. Fort Worth subsequently became the meat-packing centre of the American Southwest. Oil finds brought the petroleum-refining industry to the city in 1920, and in 1949 aircraft manufacturing began there. The city's economy, integrated with that of Dallas, is widely based. Its diversified industry includes the manufacture of aircraft and aerospace and electronic equipment and machinery. While still a cattle industry headquarters, Fort Worth is also a food-processing, transportation, and wholesaling centre, and its oil business has remained vigorous. It is the seat of Texas Christian University (1873), Texas Wesleyan University (1890), and Tarrant County Junior College (1967); the University of Texas at Arlington (1895) is just to the east. The city's Will Rogers Memorial Center embraces the Amon Carter Museum of Western Art (1961; housing a fine collection of paintings of the American Westnotably those of Frederic Remington and Charles Russell) and the unique Kimbell Art Museum, built with semicircular vaults. The Tarrant County Convention Center (1968), spanning 14 downtown city blocks, is a major landmark. Recreational and other attractions include a zoo and aquarium, botanical gardens, several recreational lakes, and the combined Southwestern Exposition, Livestock Show and Rodeo (held in January). Inc. 1873. Pop. (1992 est.) city, 465,262; (1990) Fort WorthArlington PMSA, 1,332,053.