26 replies to this topic

[YouGotRedOnU]

Hello,
Just found and joined the forums today while trying to find info on Casa Bonita's. I have noticed that there are alot of informed people on here so I thought I would ask a question about a location that me and my friends and brother used to go play in when we were kids.
There is a building/property just east of Echo lake on the other side of the railroad tracks that me and my friends used to go run what we called military maneuvers at when we were kids and I was visiting my Grandmother for the summer.
We would get all dressed up in all of the Vietnam erra surplus that we bought from Omaha's off of White Settlement Rd. and our replica (at least we thought) Daisy Air17 M-16 pellet rifles and just practice room clearing drills and have war games there.
My grandfather used to work at Abrants just to the north of this location, but I never thought to ask him what they had used this facility for.
The building always had that dark eerie feeling to it, but that made doing what we were doing all the more fun, because we were always expecting to run into someone. Looking back now I know it was not the smartest of places to play, but I will always remember that it was exciting and fun. I often reminisce when I am driving past Echo Lake and I look over and see those two smoke stacks.
I have included a Google Earth capture of the location. If anyone has any info on this location I would greatly appreciate it.



Thanks,
Mike

[Ghost Writer in Disguise]

I used to be curious about this place myself, especially how to get up close to it. It made the news in the 1990s, by which time it had become a hangout for drug dealers (not the reason I wanted to see it up close). A woman who went there to buy heroin fell to her death somehow and in the Startle-Gram article it was mentioned that it had been built in the 1950s. They printed a map and inset clearly showing the location and yet the pinhead who wrote the article described it as being in north Fort Worth. Other than that I got nothin. Does the place have an address?

[TexasPacific52]

The current neighborhood conditions haven't really changed any. I drove back to the gate this last year (upper left corner of pic) and the place still looks just like the photo. You could get in if you wanted to but that means leaving your car unattended at the gate which would be very stupid. There's probably a lot of bad people and bad stuff there now. My curiosity isn't bad enough to convince me to chance this adventure.

John B

[Ghost Writer in Disguise]

Well, I don't think anyone is proposing a field trip...

[panthercity]

I have heard many people call that place Midget town.

[hipolyte]

Why do they call it midget town?

[panthercity]

Why do they call it midget town?

i don't know they say there are evil midgets there

[FWbrownfields]

The incinerator was built and operated by the City of Fort Worth as a municipal solid waste incinerator. It's my understanding that it only operated a few years before changes in federal air pollution laws forced its closure. It's on about 6 acres of land. The City sold it in the 1980s if memory serves, to someone who wanted to redevelop it as a dinner theater. The City had a second municipal solid waste incinerator near what is now the police and fire training center north of downtown. That facility is also still standing but not operational.

[YouGotRedOnU]

Cool thanks for the information!
Nice to finally know what it was used for.

Mike

[FWbrownfields]

Here are some photos I took of the incinerator in 2000:

This is a view of the west side of the incinerator -




This is a closeup of the stacks:



This is a view of the incinerator from Yuma:

[YouGotRedOnU]

Cool PICS, thanks for posting!

[RicknTX]

Hello. Newbie here! In fact, this is my first post after chancing upon the site and forum. I hope I can add to the wealth of individual histories and information that has already been left by previous posters.

Now, about the incinerator. I know, this topic was posted w-aaaaa-y back in 2006. But, that's okay, I'm gonna reply anyway in the chance that anyone is still interested. I know the incinerator was is use back around 1959-1960 because my mother and stepdad used to lease Echo Lake and the adjoining Echo Lounge. We lived in the large 2-story white house that was on the property and managed the lake (it was a private fishing lake) for the owner of the property (I think his name was Windy Sellars, or perhaps it was Woodie Sellars?). We also leased the Echo Lounge from (none other than) Fort Worth vending and made a small subsistence living doing that.

The incinerator was kind of like a mysterious playground for us kids in the area to visit and play around. Yeah, I know! Playing around a trash incinerator! We did odd things to keep ourselves busy back in those days! We would even sometimes climb down into the huge garbage pit when it wasn't so full and look for things of value (er, you know...one man's trash is another man's treasure! Literally!). True, we didn't find much, and it wasn't that bad to climb down into. But, no, I wouldn't do it now!

I was surprised to see a topic that touched on a bit of nostalgia for me. Being 59 now, I see to touch on nostalgic topics everytime I turn around these days!

Thanks for the opportunity to respond.

...Rick

[John T Roberts]

Welcom to the forum! Please feel free to add to the history and discussion of topics.

[RicknTX]

Thanks for the welcome, John.

I have been enjoying the vast colllection of photos posted here. I am guessing that as the posting ages, the photos are no longer viewable because I have read a few postings that refers to images that are not there?

Is there an archive for old images?

Also, as an amateur photographer I hope to find/take images to share on this site with the rest of you who might be interested. Note that I said "amateur", not "good amateur". haha

...Rick

Welcom to the forum! Please feel free to add to the history and discussion of topics.

[FWFF'r]

Where exactly is/was Echo Lake & the incinerators? I thought that I had read that Echo Lake was part of Arlington Lake now...? All of the pics & links on this thread are gone.

[Phil Phillips]

Lake Erie was the name of the small lake that is now part of Lake Arlington, according to some of my older maps. Echo Lake is just east of the South Freeway and south of Berry.

[FWFF'r]

Lake Erie was the name of the small lake that is now part of Lake Arlington, according to some of my older maps. Echo Lake is just east of the South Freeway and south of Berry.

yeah, thanks Phil... got my "E" lakes mixed up.... never knew of either of them before...

[Ghost Writer in Disguise]

Stuff I found while hunting midgets:

http://farm8.staticf...bea6b1078_z.jpg

http://farm4.staticf...b6c96b758_z.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csWPEu0eZBo

[jbelleptcu]

It was called Widget Town because of an urban legend. It was rumored that several families of Widgets lived there and in bred and all that. Widgets being not quite midgets, but not tall either. We held the idea that if you went "snooping around" their property you would end up in the smoke stack. It is still standing and it's still just as creepy as it was back in the 70's.

[Austin55]

Interesting!

 

https://theincineratorproject.com/

 

[Ghost Writer in Disguise]

Where exactly is/was Echo Lake & the incinerators? I thought that I had read that Echo Lake was part of Arlington Lake now...? All of the pics & links on this thread are gone.

I remember Echo Lake and the Incinerators. Didn't they open for Spinal Tap once?

[Austin55]

Dreamvisioned.

 

https://www.fwweekly.../25/flamed-out/

[Ghost Writer in Disguise]

   "Incinerator on West Berry" 1958-08-29  http://library.uta.e...52f65ff7235.jpg

[txbornviking]

Dreamvisioned.

 

https://www.fwweekly.../25/flamed-out/

 

womp womp

[Ghost Writer in Disguise]

Does this mean the midgets will have to move?

[Mtuggle76]

My next door neighbor, his friend and I drove all the way over there, started walking on the tracks, saw the building from a slight distance, got cold feet, walked back, and never returned.  Got scared as to who would be there.