Fort Worth, the 5th biggest city within the state of Texas and the 17th biggest city within the United States, is the second biggest cultural and economic center of the Dallas-Fort-Worth-Arlington metropolitan area. First established as a protective Army outpost that overlooks the Trinity River, Fort Worth City has a western heritage with traditional architecture and designs.
The history is closely related with the history of the city of Dallas and the Texas frontier. Major Ripley Arnold established the new fort site close to the West and Clear Forks gathering during the year 1849. He put up a post on the banks of the Trinity and named it Camp Worth in honor of U.S. Army General William Jenkins Worth, a well-respected veteran of the Mexican-American War. The U.S. officially granted the name "Fort Worth" in the year 1894. A lot of pioneers started to live within the area around Fort Worth even with the Native Americans who were still considered a threat to the community. The Civil War and Reconstruction nearly wiped Fort Worth off the map because of money shortages burdened by the citizens. It slowly revived itself during the 1870's, and shortly, the city opened general stores, national banks, saloons, and many others. Schools also opened gradually following the war, and when the cattle industry exploded in the area, the city's economy grew and became called "Cowtown."
Those who like going to museums could go to American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum, Amon Carter Museum (offers visitors a remarkable survey of American art, from the very first landscape painters of the 1830s to modern artists of the twentieth century), Ball-Eddleman-McFarland House, Ballet Concerto (presented annually since the year 1983 the "Summer Dance Concert", which has been a free outdoor dance event presented within Fort Worth's Cultural District), Cattle Raisers Museum, Fire Station No. 1, Fort Worth Community Arts Center (features regional artists' talents in dance, theater, studio art, music, opera, and poetry), Fort Worth Museum of Science and History/Omni Theater (it is home to various interactive and exciting exhibits for kids of different ages), Galleries (Artspace 111, Art on the Boulevard, The Firehouse Art Studios and Gallery, Hometown Galleries, Milan Galleries, Lucky Draw Pottery Gallery and Artisans Studio, Spur Ranch Gallery, and William Campbell Contemporary Art), ITC Historic Wall (celebrates the African-American mercantile and warehouse district which thrived within the eastern edge of downtown during early Fort Worth), Kimbell Art Museum, and Leonard's Department Store Museum (Fort Worth downtown department store).
In the city of Fort Worth, there are a lot of companies who have their headquarters here, including Airforce Airguns, Acme Brick, Alcon (United States Headquarters), AmeriCredit, American IronHorse, Bell/Agusta Aerospace Company, Bell Helicopter Textron, Ben E. Keith, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., Cash America International, Consolidated Robotics, Coria Laboratories, Ltd., Cawley, Dickies and Gillespies & Assoc.