Black Business District

Black Business District. . , The years 1865-1965 represented a time of growth for Black businesses in Fort Worth. The corner of Ninth and Jones Streets became the entryway to a vibrant new business district during the 1920s. All of the businesses were Black-owned. (The district ran from Throckmorton Street to Jones Street south of Ninth Street and from Commerce Street to Grove Street between First and Ninth Streets.) The businesses in the area included grocery stores, cafes, beauty school, industrial arts college, hotel, drug store, dry goods store, beauty parlors, barber shops, night clubs, funeral homes, cleaners, tailors, millinery (hat) shops, cab companies, law offices, insurance companies, movie theater, ice cream parlor, hatchery, bank, and churches. The vision for the district was simple: "To create something for Black people by Black people." It was a community of great pride and strength. Today, it lives on in the hearts of people who witnessed its foundational impact on the city of Fort Worth then and now., "If you stand on the shoulders of others, you have a responsibility to live your life so that others may stand on your shoulders." , Vernon Jordan, Business Executive and Civil Rights Activist, August 15, 1935 - March 1, 2021.