Benjamin Richard Wall

Benjamin Richard Wall. , Grapevine Mayor: 1912-14; 1916-17; 1919-20; 1933-46, Benjamin Richard (B.R.) Wall was born in Grapevine on May 7, 1876. He attended the Grapevine free school, and continued his education at Grapevine College and at Baylor University where he studied law. In 1915, the State Bar Association issued him Card No. 1, which he carried all his life. In 1912, he became Mayor of Grapevine and served intermittent terms until 1946. He was Mayor of the city during World War I and World War II, and through his weekly newspaper columns in the Grapevine Sun, which he established in 1895, he kept the citizens of Grapevine motivated and optimistic about their future. In 1913, B. R. Wall went to New York and brought back the No. 7 Boy Scout Unit Charter, giving Grapevine one of the first Boy Scout troops west of the Mississippi. In 1900, as a young man, he went to Galveston to help with disaster aid following the great hurricane that struck the island. He was extremely thoughtful of others who were less fortunate, an attribute that led him to initiate an international relationship with the citizens of Pitcairn Island. Beginning in 1912, he challenged Grapevine citizens to place items for Pitcairn Islanders in a box which he kept in his office. When the box became full, the shipment was made. B. R. Wall was a dynamic man of vision. His legacy of leadership continues to serve as a model for Grapevine and its citizens., City officials not transcribed , Sculptor - Archie St. Clair