1930s by such people as Elliot Roosevelt
(son of then President Roosevelt),
Ellison Harding (president of Fort Worth
National Bank), and Ed Sproles (head of
Texas Motor Truck Transport Company).
The population had grown to 161 people
by 1935. The Elliott Roosevelt home was
in the area of what is now the east side of
Lake Benbrook, near St. Francis Village.
The Sproles House was constructed
in 1934 and served as the center of a
large cattle ranch, much of which was
submerged by Benbrook Lake in 1947.
Most of the house and outbuildings
remain near the intersection of Sproles
Drive and U.S. 377. The current owner,
Mayor Jerry Dittrich and his former
wife won the Historic Preservation
Council for Tarrant County Pedestal
Award in 1996 for their restoration
efforts. Roosevelt’s Dutch Branch Ranch
covered approximately 1,300 acres in
the Benbrook area with the ranch house
located off of Old Granbury Road (West
Cleburne Road) on the east of what is
now Benbrook Lake. The ranch was
purchased in 1935 by Elliott’s wife, Ruth
Goggins Roosevelt, and served as Elliot’s
home while he was president of the
Texas State (radio) Network. President
Franklin Roosevelt visited his son at
the ranch on four occasions from 1936
to 1944. The Roosevelts sold the ranch
in 1944 and Fort Worth oilman Sid W.
Richardson later purchased it in 1946.
Much of the ranch was condemned by
the U.S. Government for construction
of Benbrook Lake in 1947. In contrast
to the opulent homes built during the
1930s, a “Hooverville” shantytown was
reported in the vicinity of Benbrook in
1933 during the Great Depression.
BENBROOK AND THE 1940S
By the 1940s, most of the non‐highway
road network was maintained by Tarrant
County. Old Benbrook Road/Aledo Road
was County Road 1024. Winscott‐Plover
Road was County Road 1042 and Sproles
Road was County Road 1048. Mercedes
Street was County Road 1046 and
Chapin Road was County Road 1040.
U.S. 377 and U.S. 80 were constructed,
as was R.M. 2871, though it was
apparently designated as F.M. 287 at
the time. Williams Road was present as
well. On the other hand, the Benbrook
Railroad Station was apparently
closed and was torn down during the
1940s. Lee Harvey Oswald apparently
began his schooling in Benbrook, but
moved shortly thereafter. The Warren
Commission report indicates that
Oswald and his mother moved to
Benbrook in 1945, lived on Granbury
Road, and attended Benbrook Common
School until 1946. They moved back
to Benbrook in 1948 and lived on San
Saba for approximately one year, before
moving to Ewing Avenue in Fort Worth.
The house on San Saba is reportedly
where the old Benbrook Water and
Sewer Authority office was located,
which has since been demolished for the
relocation of Del Rio Avenue.
By 1940, the Benbrook community had
grown to 100 people and three stores.
Fort Worth donated land to the federal
government that same year for the
construction of a bomber plant to be
operated by Consolidated Vultee Aircraft
Company (Convair; later renamed
General Dynamics then Lockheed
Martin). The plant began construction
on April 18, 1941 and the first B‐24
“Liberator” bomber rolled off the
assembly line in April 1942. The Tarrant
Air Drome (later renamed Carswell
Air Force Base in 1948) was established
at the same time. Benbrook Estates
subdivision (which includes Del Rio
Avenue, Goliad Street, and San Angelo
Avenue to Mercedes Street) was platted
in 1946. Lots were typically 70 feet by
170 feet. In May 1947, the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers began construction
of Benbrook Dam on the Clear Fork,
reaching completion in December 1950
and finally impounding water in 1952.
Authorized by the Rivers and Harbors
Act of 1945, the dam was designed to
prevent flooding such as the major
floods of 1922, 1947 and 1949. The May
16, 1949 flood killed 10, injured more
than 70, and left over 13,000 people
homeless in Fort Worth following 10
inches of rain in 12 hours. Carswell Air
Force Base truck and airmen helped
rescue distressed citizens from the
fallout of the flood.
INCORPORATION
On November 17th, 1947, the residents
voted 25 to 0 to incorporate as a Village.
The total area included in the new city
was 13.3 square miles, including area
east of the Clear Fork in what is now
the CityView development and areas
west of Loop 820 and north of Walnut
Creek. The first mayor was Ed Sproles
and first aldermen included Mrs.
Grace Cozby, J.A. Childers, W.J. Nolte,
M.N. Wallace and D.I. Sessums. Earl
Cleveland was elected city marshall‐tax
collector. One of the new Village’s
first actions (Ordinance Number 2)
was to create a Planning and Zoning
Commission in August 1948, with the
duty to recommend a master plan and
zoning ordinance. The first zoning
ordinance (Number 20) was adopted
in March 1951 and created a single
zoning district for “A” One Family lots.
Lots were required to be 20,000 square
feet and dwellings were required to be
1,000 square feet in size. The Benbrook
Volunteer Fire Department, organized
in 1949 with H.S. “Doc” Duncan as the
first fire chief, began with only a small
pumper truck. By 1957, the department
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