Demolished Fort Worth Landmarks

This page will be showing some of the landmarks of Fort Worth that have been demolished over the years.  The descriptions and images will come out of my personal photographic archives, and will be added on an irregular basis.  A brief history and description will be provided of each building.  This is not intended to be a comprehensive list, only as a record of demolished structures that I have documented.  All of the buildings shown have been demolished since 1975.

 

Aviation Building - 1978

AVIATION BUILDING - NE corner of 7th & Main - 1930 - Demolished July 23, 1978

Fort Worth Architect Wyatt C. Hedrick designed this 16 story building in the Zig Zag Moderne Art Deco style.  It featured a beautiful lobby and a beautiful entrance that featured gold eagles and Aztec Indians.  Also at the entrance was an aluminum grille that featured Aztec and Mayan Indian symbols and images.  The same theme continued into the lobby of the building.  The base and top of the building were each 3 stories high.  Between the 13th and 14th floors, prow shaped lighting fixtures illuminated the upper three floors at night on the 7th and Main Street facades of the building.  Southern Air Transport, a forerunner to American Airlines was one of the original tenants of the building.  After the 1930's the building was sold and became home to several insurance companies.  The building was also known as the Commercial Standard Insurance Building and the Trans American Life Building.  Trans American was the last owner of the structure and they erected a 7 story neon sign on the 7th & Main corner.  They also installed a large multi story sign on the east side of the building, covering almost all of that facade.  The building was purchased in 1978 by the Continental National Bank for purposes of building their new home at this location.  Continental Plaza (now Carter+Burgess Plaza) opened on this site in 1982.

Trans American Life Sign                                   Building Entrance
 


MONNIG'S DEPARTMENT STORE - Houston & 5th - Demolished Summer 1991

Monnig's started their store in a building on the southeast corner of 4th and Throckmorton.  Over the years, they eventually expanded to cover the entire block.  Each of the six buildings in the block were three stories.  Since the buildings were of different styles, at some point in the late 1940's, all of the facades of the buildings were reclad with brick and a new design.  In the 1950's, the store grew again and two floors were added on top of the six buildings.  In 1990, the store closed and the property was purchased by the Bass Family.  In 1991, the building was demolished for future development and has been used as a surface parking lot since that time.