How did Oakhurst get its name?

By Libby Willis; originally published in the June 2017 edition of the Oak Leaflet...

How did Oakhurst get its name? We may never know for sure, but from what we DO know about the development of the neighborhood, we can come up with a reasonable answer. The fun comes in learning about other places and people also named Oakhurst.

The first thing to know is that the word “hurst” (from Old English) means “wooded hill.” "Oakhurst” means a wooded hill with oak trees. The Saxon word “hurst” is often used in southern England as part of other place names such as “Amhurst” (or “Amherst”) or “Ravenhurst.” The use of “hurst” in a place name may go back to ancient times although the use of it in a street name is modern.

The most famous place named “Oakhurst” in the United States is the nation’s oldest existing golf course (nine holes) built in 1884 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

The course was patterned after the original golf course in Scotland and no modern golf clubs may be used on the course. It is set in rolling hills where sheep graze and they are as likely as not to roam across your path while you are playing the game. Most who play at the historic Oakhurst wear knickers and sweaters to fully capture the feel of the original game. Recently, plans have been announced to maintain the historic “Oakhurst Links” but also to develop a brand new Oakhurst course designed by golf greats Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Gary Player. It’s the first time all four of the golf legends have designed a course together.

There are at least 8 states with one city named Oakhurst including one in Texas. California has two such cities. Probably the most well-known of these is Oakhurst, California, established in the 1850’s to supply gold miners. Formerly known as “Fresno Flats,” Oakhurst, California is in grizzly bear country in the Sierra Nevada Mountains,. In fact, the town is “famous” for its permanent “talking bear” on the town square. The town is 14 miles from the south entrance to Yosemite National Park.

In Australia, there is an Oakhurst in Queensland and one in New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney. In Britain, there is a town called “Oakhurst” in Kent.

Oakhurst is also the name of a streetcar suburb in Atlanta established by the Georgia Legislature in 1910. It was annexed into the City of Atlanta in 1914-1916 and more residential development followed, including in 1924, the same year as our own Oakhurst. It’s a historic neighborhood which remains quite active.

In 1869, American writer Bret Harte wrote his short story, “The Outcasts of Poker Flat”. His protagonist was a gambler named John Oakhurst. He was a calm soul throughout the story, even after he and others had been cast out of a California town into the nearby mountains. One of their group took their horses leaving them stranded and likely to die in the cold and snow. In 1919, the story was made into a film directed by John Ford. Harry Carey played the role of Oakhurst. The film has been lost, but the characters remain in memory although it is unlikely that Fort Worth’s Oakhurst Neighborhood was named for John Oakhurst.

There is also no connection between the Texas city of Hurst in northeast Tarrant County and Oakhurst. Hurst was named for William Letchworth Hurst after he agreed in 1903 to let the Rock Island Railroad lay track on his land to connect Fort Worth and Dallas; he asked that a depot be built and given his name.

So why IS our neighborhood named Oakhurst? It’s probably because of some very simple things: it was not unusual to name an area wooded with oak trees “Oakhurst.” It had certainly been done before by those in Georgia and California and those places might have even been familiar to Oakhurst developer John P. King. Or perhaps he had heard about the Oakhurst Links and Country Club in West Virginia. That course had been around for at least 40 years by the time King developed his own Oakhurst Country Club during the 1930s. Maybe King knew about the various towns and cities in England named “Ravenhurst” or “Oakhurst.” Perhaps King thought “Oakhurst” sounded good as the name of a new residential addition. We know that King named his subsequent addition on the West Side of Fort Worth “Monticello” in 1928. Obviously, he knew that was the name of Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia home. He must have liked the idea of drawing connections between a famous president, his well-known home, and a new residential development. It’s not inconceivable that King did the same thing with the name “Oakhurst.” He may have seen it as a prestigious sounding name that would attract lookers and buyers in the new neighborhood. It didn’t hurt that the name just happened to be appropriate for the trees and topography of our part of Fort Worth.

Six Points Urban Village Redeveloping, but Too Slowly for Some

Neighbors, check out this video interview from NBC5 (@nbcdfw): http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/5pm-Barr-Six-Points_Dallas-Fort-Worth-392082821.html.

Amon Carter Riverside High School: Celebrating 80 Years (1936-2016)!

Contributed by Rick Herring

“A high school for Riverside!” was the rallying cry and dream for Riverside community leaders and citizens in the early 1930s. The dream became reality in 1936, when Riverside High School opened its doors to senior and junior high students. In the early years of the 20th century, the Riverside Independent School District operated a high school, but when Riverside was annexed by Fort Worth in 1922, the schools were taken over by the Fort Worth ISD and the high school grades in Riverside were discontinued. Riverside students wishing to continue their education past the 8th grade were forced to attend one of the other Fort Worth high schools, usually Central High School (now Paschal). Parents and community leaders were increasingly frustrated as the Riverside community continued to grow and no high school was available in the community. The Riverside Civic League and George B. Eagle, school board member from Riverside, began garnering community support and pressuring the school district to build a high school in Riverside. After several years of lobbying by Riverside citizens, plans were made for a new high school in Riverside.

Amon Carter Riverside High School, est. 1936

A massive ground-breaking and community celebration in August, 1935, kicked off construction of Riverside High School, and the beautiful new high school building was opened for classes on September 15, 1936. The building was designed by noted Fort Worth architect Wyatt Hedrick, who also designed the Texas & Pacific Rail Terminal, Will Rogers Memorial Center, the United States Post Office and numerous other landmark Fort Worth buildings. Hare & Hare, a noted landscape architecture firm from Kansas City, landscaped the 40-acre wooded campus. Riverside High School quickly became the center of the community and strengthened the already strong bonds of the tight-knit Riverside community. A momentous change occurred in 1941, when the school was renamed Amon Carter Riverside High School to honor the well-known Fort Worth civic leader.

Building Permits 101: Platting Requirements

A personal tale from Aaron Vorwerk, your neighborhood website editor...

As our nearby neighbors are aware, my wife Amanda and I embarked on a journey last summer to tackle additions and renovations to our home.  (Apologies to everyone for the mud pit that replaced our driveway for a few months!)  We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it has been a surprisingly challenging experience; we've learned a few hard lessons along the way.  And that's where this story begins...

The Replat

Back in 2006, the City of Fort Worth issued a memo (see below) making the decision to begin enforcing a 40-year-old provision requiring a plat (not a survey) to establish a legal lot of record prior to issuance of a building permit.  This provision grandfathers any lots established prior to January 1, 1948, so most of our Oakhurst neighbors are exempt.  Unfortunately, much of West Oakhurst was constructed after this date—ours was originally purchased in May 1948—so we are not so fortunate.

Memo from 9/8/2006 shared by the City of Fort Worth

What does this all mean?  For many residential owners in West Oakhurst (and throughout the city), a replat will be required prior to issuance of a building permit.  We were informed of this requirement by the City after submitting our application for a building permit in July 2015.  As detailed below, the process ended up delaying our project by roughly eight months (and costing us nearly $4,000).

Initially, I reasoned with the City that neither we nor any previous owners of our property have ever changed the property boundaries, and the West Oakhurst addition was platted in 1947, so there shouldn't be any logical need for a replat.  But in my (many) conversations with City planners, I learned that the fact that our property was originally sold in 1948 as a lot-and-a-half, like many West Oakhurst properties, meant that the 1947 plat of the neighborhood would not suffice.  I also learned that the City has enforced this provision on properties sold as little as two weeks after the 1/1/1948 deadline; they really offer no flexibility there.

My surveyor explained that he's debated this with the City for years, believing this to be a situation where the City is unfairly holding residential property owners to commercial standards, especially where property boundaries have never been changed.  We believe this causes undue hardship to homeowners wanting to improve their properties, especially for smaller projects (where the cost of a plat is out of line with the cost of the work to be performed).  This results in homeowners foregoing permits or choosing not to invest in their homes at all, when (ironically) it is in the City's best interest to encourage residents to invest in their homes, generating economic activity and boosting tax values.

As much as we love living in Oakhurst, Amanda and I will admit that we considered selling our home upon learning that we'd be delayed for an unknown duration due to the platting process, in addition to spending thousands of dollars that would otherwise have gone to renovations.

The Easement

If the replat itself weren't enough of a setback, it also resulted in us renegotiating an existing easement with the City.  Unfortunately, much of this had to do with the City's lack of resources and inflexibility on standards, as I'll explain later.

We and our neighbors have long had a 4' sewer easement on each side of our rear property line.  However, current standards call for 7.5' on each side.  Now this wouldn't have been that significant of an adjustment, but because the City wasn't sure of our sewer line location, they wanted to increase our rear yard easement from 4' to 15'!  My surveyor and I disagreed with the City for many reasons:  (1) given the 4' easement on the neighbor's side of the property line, the maximum we might anticipate the City requesting of us would be 11'; (2) the sewer line is a small branch serving only 2-3 homes, i.e. no need for a large easement; (3) this would threaten large oak trees in our backyard that predate the original installation of the sewer line; and (4) given that all surrounding neighbors have 4' easements, there would be limited benefit in dedicating a large swath of our backyard.

In response, the City asked our surveyor to locate the line, but he countered that this was the City's responsibility; he didn't have the access or permission from all adjacent neighbors to locate the City's line, and this shouldn't be performed at the homeowners' expense.

During this back-and-forth, I proposed a compromise:  We would accept an increase of 6' to our original easement, giving the City a total of 10' on our property (14' overall).  I felt that this was generous, but I also thought I'd be unlikely to build any new outbuildings along the rear fence, given present-day setback requirements and the fact that we already have an old shed back there that has encroached on the original easement for decades.

The City initially declined, agreeing instead to send out a crew to locate the line.  But weeks dragged by with no progress.  Eventually, in mid-December, a City engineer asked me if I'd still be willing to compromise.  He later admitted to our surveyor, "...the reason Aaron and I came to this agreement is due to issues with us having City Staff going out to locate the lines."

By the time this process was concluded, it was mid-January of this year.  We (finally) received our building permit in February, and we broke ground in March.

In Summary

From the very beginning, we have found our home improvement project fraught with challenges. It has taken a healthy dose of patience, some real heartache, and a spirit of compromise to get us this far.  But we believe that our neighborhood is a great place to invest, and some of you may be thinking about taking on a project of your own, so we thought it would be worth sharing this cautionary tale with you.  May yours go smoothly!

Oakhurst Roots Run Deep in Riverside and Fort Worth

Contributed by Libby Willis:

These are heady days for Oakhurst as many new residents are finding and deciding to move to our neighborhood.  They are discovering our great small town feel, green space, lots of trees, charming period houses, and a walkable neighborhood with many friendly neighbors.  What isn't always apparent is what has gone before.  Those reminders come only when we get to know our neighbors, talk to them about their lives here, and learn some fascinating stories.  In Oakhurst, the presence of the past is real.

For instance, a fair number of neighbors have longtime family ties to greater Riverside.  Bluebonnet resident Paul Griffin’s family has lived in Oakhurst since the early 20th century.  His grandfather was Edwin Perry Barclay.  He and his parents, Lawrence & Frances (Stevens) Barclay, were from the Toledo, Ohio area.  They came to Texas (via Kansas City) for the men to work in the cooperage business.  Edwin met & married Zora Rachael Cleckler in about 1898.  They moved to the Riverside area in about 1900 & built the house at 914 Chandler (it's still there).  The Riverside streets Barclay and Cleckler were named after the two families.

Edwin Perry Barclay, third from left, front row, was Paul Griffin's grandfather.  He is shown in front of the 1895 Tarrant County Courthouse at a Labor Day Parade in the early 20th century.

Other Oakhurst families have strong ties to businesses of local, statewide and national importance.  Between 1942 and 1951, the Frank Hames family lived at 2312 Primrose Avenue.  The Hameses have lived at other addresses in Oakhurst and Riverside and have been fixtures in the community for many years.  They had three sons, including Frank, Raymond, and Mike.  Mike and his wife Kay still reside on Bluebonnet.  The brothers are the grandsons of Bill Hames who created Bill Hames shows and carnivals based in Fort Worth and known across the United States and Canada.  If you’ve ever been to the midway at the Stock Show, you’ve seen or ridden Hames family rides.  If you’ve ever ridden the Miniature Train at Forest Park, you’ve been on a Hames family operated train.  They had midway concerns at the Stock Show when it was still held on the Northside in the Fort Worth Stockyards before 1944.  They even had a similar train and other rides in Sylvania Park on Belknap Street during the mid-1950s according to Frank.

Far left, 1959:  Bill Hames, founder of the Forest Park Miniature Train and Bill Hames Shows

The railroad’s first passenger cars were named for family members of the original Bill Hames, who developed the miniature train.  Cars were named for Frank and Mike Hames (Here’s a Western swing footnote: The “Mary Helen Special” car was named for Hames’s daughter, who was married to Milton Brown, Brown pianist Fred “Papa” Calhoun, and Bob Wills).  Frank Hames calls himself “the one and only concrete carney.”  That’s because besides his prodigious work in the carnival business, he has also had a decades long and successful career in the concrete business constructing well known facilities like Texas Stadium, the upper deck at TCU’s Amon Carter Stadium and major buildings such as 777 Main Street in downtown Fort Worth.  “But we loved Oakhurst,” Hames said recently.  “Those houses were well built,” he said.   (That’s a relief, coming from someone who knows the construction business!)  “At 2312 Primrose, we kept about 41 chickens in the backyard,” he said.  “One day, Dad got tired of all of them and decided it was time to have them meet their maker.  We put them in the freezer and had many fried chicken dinners from those birds,” he said.

Old 101 Ranch Calliope, acquired by Bill Hames in 1938 and shown in 1950 at Hames' WInter Headquarters in Fort Worth; later donated to the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin

Oakhurst residents have been associated with great local community institutions for many years as well.  A little remembered fact is that the Fort Worth Community Theater had its first home in Riverside.  Many well known actors and productions came out of that organization which has been the bedrock of theater in the city.  Paul Griffin tells the story about his experience.  One day in 1964, while he was doing volunteer work painting sets at Fort Worth Community Theater (when it was housed in the Morgan Theater at 608 North Sylvania around the corner from Race Street), the director of “Two Blind Mice” asked if he would do a bit part in the play.  “You don’t have to audition, there are no lines.”  So he did.  Meeting neighbors like Paul and former neighbors like Frank help us remember all the people and institutions which have made Oakhurst and Riverside what they are today.

Paul Griffin on stage at Fort Worth Community Theater in "Three Blind Mice" about 1964; at this time, the former Morgan Theater on Sylvania was home to the FWCT.  Today, the building houses Prayer of Faith Temple Church.

 This article originally appeared in the May 2016 edition of the Oak Leaflet.

The Charm of Oakhurst: "Homes on a Hill"

Homes on a Hill:  Oakhurst's corner of the World buffered from city clamor
By Susan Aschoff, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

The enclave of curving streets, well-tended flower beds and charming houses is one of the best kept secrets in Fort Worth.

Yet Oakhurst, a neighborhood of about 2,000 people a scant two miles northeast of downtown, is a highly visible force at City Hall when there's a battle to be fought involving the neighborhood.

The brick and wood-frame houses and mature trees resemble those in Arlington Heights, another established Fort Worth neighborhood attracting young families and enthusiastic refurbishers.

But until recently, Oakhurst escaped the housing inflation common in near west Fort Worth's older neighborhoods.  It has retained its eclectic combination of $200,000-plus brick homes perched on scenic bluffs just blocks away from small, under $60,000 homes whose front yards are littered with tricycles.

"The area has some of the nicest homes on this side of the city," said Khosrow Keynejad, the associate city planner assigned to the area.

Oakhurst's sector plan for the future emphasizes protection of the borders of a "valuable residential neighborhood."  "I've always been Charmed by (Oakhurst)," said resident Gary Kutilek, assistant city parks director.  The Kutilek family has lived in Oakhurst for nine years, first as renters and later as homeowners after Kutilek spotted a "for sale" sign going up in front of a Bluebonnet Drive home and asked the owner to take it down so he could have first shot at purchasing it.  Often overlooked by people unfamiliar with Fort Worth, Oakhurst's close-in location and well kept homes have become lures.  Blessed with easy access to Interstate 35, residents can reach downtown in less than five minutes.

When at home, they find a peaceful retreat with sheltering trees and familiar neighbors.  Although the 1980 Census found Oakhurst's population down by almost 400 since 1970, the number of owner-occupied homes has climbed from 78 percent to 87 percent—a characteristic that gives a neighborhood stability and, generally, better maintained properties.  Perhaps the only drawback, said Keynejad, is the lack of nearby shopping.

On Oakhurst's west side, the streets curve and climb up steep hills.  Residents decorate the triangles of grass at intersections with flower beds.  Many homes are brick and have steeply pitched roofs.  One house on Daisy Lane looks like a cottage, its covered porch dangling lush flower baskets and its roof topped with a weathervane.  Farther east, streets straighten out and meet at right angles, but the large trees remain.  Wood-frame and smaller brick houses are home to retired couples and the occasional renter.  Front yards covered with toys give away the presence of families with young children.

A key factor that shaped Oakhurst is its unique topography, officials and residents say.  "Nature helped Oakhurst: topography helped them," said Keynejad.  "Geography is always a major factor in urban planning.  Oakhurst sits on a bluff which protects it on the south," he said.

Interstate 35 is to the west, but the neighborhood's altitude insulates it from traffic noise.  The Mount Olivet Cemetery to the north offers additional protection.  Although industrial and strip commercial development have sprouted in neighboring Riverside, Oakhurst's geography has kept the neighborhood largely residential.  The biggest threats it faces are commercial encroachment from Sylvania Avenue, its eastern border, and ongoing city efforts to widen some of the streets and truck drivers' efforts to use those streets as shortcuts to I-35.

"The neighborhood is always watchful of any encroachment from the east," Kutilek said, "particularly the city's desire, on an intermittent basis, to widen Yucca Avenue.  The residents have been able to fight that off."

A traffic sign barring trucks on Yucca is enforced by residents' watchful eyes and their willingness to report violations to the city.  The active Oakhurst Neighborhood Association, started in 1981 by Kutilek's wife, Sharon, has made the neighborhood politically astute and introduced residents to each other.  Participation in the association is extremely high, and the group has lobbied against street widenings and zoning changes, established a Crime Watch program and spearheaded cleanups and commercial renovation on Sylvania.

A monthly newsletter called The Oak Leaflet publishes meeting times and social events, and it lists representatives from streets in the association. The community's closeness—enhanced by its geographical isolation—also benefits from neighbors' concern for each other, said the Rev. Gene Chamness, pastor of Oakhurst United Methodist Church.  "People here are very caring," Chamness said.  "Anytime you find caring, a community is possible."  The church is an integral part of Oakhurst and provides a central meeting place and community services ranging from annual health clinics to a weekday distribution point for meal delivery to shut-ins.

On Saturday, a combination auction, barbecue and rummage sale called "Fall Festival" was held on the church grounds to raise money for a family life center—a planned recreation and meeting hall.

(The article above originally appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on November 4, 1984.  It was donated to the Oakhurst Neighborhood Association Archives and reprinted in the January 2009 edition of the Oak Leaflet in recognition of Oakhurst's 85th anniversary.)

80 Years Ago: Riverside's New High School

The following article was contributed by Carter-Riverside neighbor Rick Herring:

It may be historic to us, but once upon a time it was new
by Rick Herring

80 years ago - August, 1935 - a sunrise breakfast and groundbreaking ceremony celebrated the beginning of construction on a new high school in Riverside, the school we know and love today as Amon Carter Riverside High School. The whole community was awakened on that momentous day by a "long, shrill train whistle, guaranteed to wake everybody in Riverside" at 5 a.m., followed by "modern-day town criers and Paul Reveres" who traveled the streets of Riverside honking horns, blowing whistles and ringing cow bells. All of this to summon the community to a grand celebration being jointly sponsored by the Riverside Civic League, Riverside PTA, and Oakhurst PTA. Boy Scouts were told to assemble in their uniforms at Scott’s Drug Store at Six Points no later than 5:30 a.m. and then march carrying the colors to the site of the new high school at Yucca Avenue and Frey Avenue (now Riverside Drive) where they were to light hundreds of camp fires prepared beforehand. The high school site was lined with 400 flags. The following excerpts are taken from a newspaper article that reported the day’s events:

"Several thousand Riverside residents, together with guests from other sections of Fort Worth, mixed sand with their bacon and eggs this morning at ground breaking ceremonies for the new Riverside senior high school, estimated to cost $400,000."

"A hundred camp fires were lighted soon after sunup and in a few minutes the smell of frying bacon and eggs permeated the 40-acre site on which the school is to be built. Coffee was served from huge urns provided by the Riverside Civic League, which has taken a leading part in assuring the school."

"A hundred or more civic leaders of Riverside and other parts of Fort Worth were introduced and some of them made talks. Then Mrs. May Royster, who has taught school in Riverside longer than anyone else…turned the first spade of dirt, while George B.Eagle, school board member from the Riverside section, and Mrs. W.G.Phillips, wife of the civic league president, assisted."

"…W.M. Green, school superintendent…announced [the] first classes would be held in the building in September, 1936…. When [it was] announced that construction would start within 24 hours, the crowd applauded."

"Mother Ingraham (Mrs. F. A. Ingraham), first president of the Riverside PTA, [was] presented a bouquet of flowers…. Sam Losh led the crowd in a sing-song…Boy Scouts had charge of a flag-raising ceremony while a bugler blew reveille."

What a celebration and show of community spirit! These folks had a lot to celebrate. The high school grades at the former Riverside High School had been discontinued in 1922-23 when the Fort Worth ISD took over the Riverside ISD. High school age students in Riverside then had to attend another Fort Worth high school, most choosing Central High (now Paschal) because it was easiest to reach via the city’s streetcars. But for many, the loss of the high school grades in the Riverside community ended their education.

Riverside leaders fought for years to get a high school back in Riverside. When a school board commissioned study recommended a new junior-senior high school for Riverside in 1933, the community went to work and collected over 1,500 signatures of qualified voters from Riverside, enough to persuade the school board to call a bond election for the erection of new schools. A bond program of $3,000,000 was passed and an additional $4,000,000 was secured from the federal Public Works Administration.

Given the fact that Riverside took the lead in starting the chain of events that led to the building program, and that the new Riverside High School was to be the first high school constructed under the program, Riverside leaders were determined to put on a grand celebration. A committee of 190 persons had charge of the plans and the day before the groundbreaking the press reported that "Riverside today will hum with last minute preparations for what promises to be the most gigantic celebration in a section of the city known for its enthusiastic support of civic enterprises".

Thanks to these Riverside "pioneers", we have a beautiful building and campus to claim as our alma mater and center of our community.

Future students studying plans for their new school and a map of
the route to reach the site of the groundbreaking celebration.

Mrs. May Royster at Riverside Public School, 1911, and George B. Eagle, Sr., 1937.

The silver-plated spade used at the groundbreaking.

Some of the revelers at the groundbreaking celebration.

Research and text by Rick Herring, copyright 2015. Used with permission.

Oakhurst Scenic Drive on the Living New Deal

Our friend, Susan Kline, author of Oakhurst's National Register of Historic Places nomination, has published an article and pictures of Oakhurst Scenic Drive on The Living New Deal.  Click on the image below to check it out!

Image courtesy Susan Kline

Amon-Carter Riverside Learning Recovery Policies

In her editorial for this month's Oak Leaflet, Libby Willis shared some of the work being done by Principal Greg Ruthart to build and maintain one of the highest graduation rates in the Fort Worth ISD.  Principal Ruthart's report is posted below in English and Spanish for your reference:

Reasons for the Carter-Riverside Learning Recovery Policies and Processes
Razones por los procesos y pólizas de la recuperación de crédito de Carter-Riverside

Oakhurst Developer’s Family had Links to Literary History

The history of Oakhurst and the background of its developer, John P. King, are interesting enough in and of themselves.  King was a well-known civic leader in Fort Worth in the early twentieth century.  He was a “go to” leader before even Amon Carter arrived on the Fort Worth scene.

Less well-known is the story of John P. King’s third son, artist Clinton King, and his first wife, British born Lady Duff Twysden.  It’s a story which gives us a snapshot of what was happening in Europe in the 1920s at exactly the same time John. P. King was developing Oakhurst.

Clinton Blair King, born in 1901 to Lorena and John P. King in Fort Worth, was an artist usually associated with the regional art of Texas and New Mexico from 1924 to 1940.  After 1940 and into the 1960s, he often exhibited his work in Chicago, New York City and Paris.

Mary Duff Stirling, Lady Twysden, was born a British socialite in 1892 to Charlotte and Baynes Wright Smurthwaite.  Twice married by the time she was 25, Lady Duff “spent the winter and spring of 1925 gallivanting around Paris...attracting attention....  She became known for her style of loose sweaters and short hair.”  During this time she met a lot of members of the “Lost Generation” including Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley.


Ernest Hemingway with Duff Twysden,
Clinton King's first wife, in Spain ca. 1925

In the summer of 1925, Hemingway invited a group of friends, including Lady Duff, to join him and his wife on their annual trip to Pamplona, Spain for the Fiesta of San Fermin to see the bull fights.  After the festival, Lady Duff and friends went back to Paris; Hemingway stayed in Spain and started work on his first novel, The Sun Also Rises.  He modeled the novel’s heroine, Brett Ashley, on Lady Duff Twysden.

Maggie Van Ostrand wrote, “The qualities of Lady Brett that are the most admirable—her easy camaraderie with men, her willingness to take risks, her devil-may-care attitude (all of which were traits of Lady Duff), and that she doesn’t flinch at the carnage in the bullring, symbolize the new woman of the Twenties: the Flapper.”  Hemingway finished the book in 8 weeks and it became his first success.

It was in Paris that Lady Duff met Clinton King, nine years younger than she and already a promising artist.  He, too, had befriended Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Picasso.  They were secretly married in Bloomsbury, England in August 1928, a story reported in The New York Times.  Clinton and Duff lived in New York and New Mexico and had a home on the shores of Lake Chapala in Mexico.  Clinton King once recalled, “We lived a different life from the rather senseless Montparnasse days.  I worked all day at painting while she drew her amusing sketches in watercolor, or posed for me, or read a great deal.”

Self-portrait, Clinton King and Narcissa Swift King

“. . . Clinton’s allowance from his family had been cut off when he married her and his resources were nearly exhausted,” Van Ostrand wrote.  “They were reduced to living on small checks that occasionally arrived from Duff’s relatives in England and the rare sale of one of King’s paintings.”  Lady Duff died in 1938 of tuberculosis in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Clinton later married Narcissa Swift, heiress of the Swift packing fortune.  They were introduced by their mutual friend, the great American artist, Georgia O’Keefe.

While John P. King was developing the Oakhurst neighborhood in the early 1920s in Fort Worth, his son and his wife were part of one of the most famous chapters in literary history, that of the “Lost Generation” writers in Europe.  It’s not even six degrees of separation in this fascinating tale.

This story, authored by Libby Willis, originally appeared in the January 2014 edition of the Oak Leaflet.

Fox Tales and Acorns

The story goes like this:

Fred Anglin took possession of the three flags that have been displayed at our ONA functions in years past.  These are the American flag, the Texas State flag and the Oakhurst flag, which is the same image of the oak leaf that many of us have displayed by decal on our cars.

Fred was unhappy with the poles that supported the flags, and with good reason.  It seems that the “poles” were actually industrial-size mop handles and in very poor condition.  Knowing that good ONA member Doug Hyde was a clever woodworker, Fred bought some sturdy 2-inch wooden dowels of appropriate length and gave them to Doug to sand, stain and finish.  Finally, Fred found an American eagle to sit atop the American flagpole, a Texas five-point star for the Texas flag and NOTHING for the Oakhurst flag.  At the March “Oakhurst Neighborhood Bike Ride with Mayor Betsy Price” Fred proudly displayed all three of our flags and expressed his dismay that there was no appropriate “Oakhurst finial” for our proud flag.  Seeing another opportunity for self-aggrandizement, I quickly volunteered to carve a big acorn for the top of the flagpole.  Using a piece of red oak from a tree in my front yard, I made a rough approximation of an acorn and completed it in time for it to be displayed at the ONA Spring General Membership Meeting.  It is made from authentic Oakhurst-grown red oak.

At the spring meeting, I had an epiphany.  With a burst of ridiculous enthusiasm, I announced that I would carve a red oak acorn for every member who donated an additional $80 to ONA.  Sort of a KERA/KKXT type of fund-raiser incentive.  In addition, I promised that they would be the first in a yearly series of Oakhurst Acorns representing the major oaks that grow in Oakhurst...red oak, then white or post oak, live oak, bur oak and chinkapin oak.  By the end of the 5 years, a person would have 5 distinctly different acorns, carved from their own distinctly different, acorn-specific oak.  The acorns are different; the wood they produce is different, too.  I announced that I would call the series Now You Know Your Nuts.  “How clever,” I said, “this will be a sure-fire fund-raiser for our neighborhood association!”

Three people took me up on the offer that night, and others expressed an interest.  I thought, what could be easier, three more red oak acorns.  What an idiot!  No one carves oak!  There’s a reason you make your hardwood floors and furniture out of oak.  It’s hard, hard as a rock!  After this experience, I’m quite confident I can carve marble or granite acorns just as easily.  So, about $650 later in tools, equipment and wood, I’ve managed to finish 6 since the Spring General Meeting.  Of these, Doyle Willis and Glenda Shelton have made their selections, and Ginger Bason still needs to pick hers from the remaining.  They have the Oakhurst emblem laser engraved and there are three, maybe four, left.

If you want one, it’s glennmc139@aol.com.  Don’t hold your breath for the rest of the series, but if I do it again next year, I’ve already got Jon Bayer’s white oak drying.  (Sadly, another victim of the deadly hypoxylon canker.)

This story, authored by Dr. Glenn Calabrese, originally appeared in the November 2013 edition of the Oak Leaflet.

Oakhurst Residents Part of History of November 22, 1963

President Kennedy speaks outside of the
Hotel Texas on November 22, 1963

President John F. Kennedy made his last speeches in downtown Fort Worth just 2 1/2 miles from Oakhurst on November 22, 1963, a day that changed the history of the country and the world.  As we mark the 50th anniversary of his assassination in Dallas, it is good to remember that Oakhurst residents were part of the happy events for the president in Fort Worth.  A new National Geographic television special on JFK in Fort Worth entitled “JFK — The Final Hours” features a segment on five Carter Riverside High School coeds who were downtown that day and saw the president.  Most if not all of those girls lived in Oakhurst.  One of them, Dian Witherspoon, recently wrote about the experience of being interviewed for the television documentary:  “Well, Sat. May 25 at 9:30 in the morning, the "5 Carter High School coeds" and Pam Pierson's aunt met the TV Producer with National Geographic in downtown Fort Worth at the JFK Tribute site and filmed the interviews
of our experience there on Nov. 22, 1963.  It was fun and I trust that it will be well edited so that we are all proud of it.

They had many more people after us, but he said our group were the "stars" of the parking lot segment.  (In case you need names of the 5, they were Kathleen Kane Golden, Dian Frohlich Witherspoon, Carol Clinton Sikes, Kay Fredericks Payton and Pam Pierson DeLeon.  That is the order (right to left) in which we were standing back in 1963.  There were other students from Carter there that day in "63", but because we were among the very first to arrive, we were mentioned on a WBAP radio broadcast, which started the hunt for us for this project.  Also because of our early arrival of 5:00 AM, we were front and center when the crowd started to gather and appear in several photos taken that day.  Three of us are clearly visible in one of the photos at the JFK Tribute and the others were blocked from view by Kennedy and the Secret Service agents as he passed by shaking hands with the crowd...it was Pam's aunt who volunteered to take Pam and some of her friends to see the President.  Her aunt is now 80 and as full of life as people half her age.  She is shorter than any of us and was only 29 years old when we saw Kennedy, so the radio reporter said 6 coeds assuming she was a student too.”

Another Oakhurst resident, Mrs. Milo Thelin, shown left in her Mapleleaf home in the early 1970s, was also part of the November 22, 1963 Fort Worth story.  She and her Sunday School class from Grace Lutheran Church often worked as a team serving banquets at the Hotel Texas (now the Hilton) to raise extra money for class and church projects.  Mrs. Thelin and her fellow Sunday School class members helped serve breakfast to the packed house at the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce breakfast for the president in the hotel ballroom that Friday in November 1963.  A statue of President Kennedy and memory wall of the famous day are new additions to downtown across from the hotel.  They are worth a trip to see to remember Fort Worth’s place in this important history.

This story, authored by Libby Willis, originally appeared in the November 2013 edition of the Oak Leaflet.

The Way it Was on Aster Avenue in the 1930s

Oakhurst resident Beverly Sharp Germany recently shared some memories of growing up at 2313 Aster Avenue in the 1930s and 1940s.  Her parents, Ruby and W.E. Sharp, built their house in 1928 as newlyweds.  Here’s a photo of Beverly and her best friend, Nancy Moses, in front of her Oakhurst house in the early 1930s getting ready to go swimming.

Beverly remembered a lot about 1930s life in the neighborhood: "We had an iceman, Mr. Winn, who delivered ice to our houses.  Few if any had refrigerators until up into the 1940s.  Each house had a large cardboard square that had either a 25, 50, 75. or 100 on each side.  The homeowner put the number of the amount of ice needed up in the front window.  Mr. Winn would turn back the heavy tarp that helped keep his ice cool, chop off the amount ordered and hoist it up on his shoulder.  He wore a thick leather apron to keep him dry.  He’d come to the back door, knock, call out "Iceman!", come in and deposit the ice in the icebox.  He was a friend and would stop to fix a toy or pick a child up with a skinned knee from a fall while skating.  He had a number of children himself.  Mother would send freshly-made cookies or jelly home with him from time to time."

"We would also stop by the ice plant on Sylvania and buy ice.  It was near where Lucas Funeral Home is today.  The man would put it on the front bumper of our Model A Ford car and then we’d need to hurry home before the ice melted.  Sometimes my dad would stop at the Ashburn’s ice cream place and get a quart of ice cream for dessert.  He’d set it on top of the chunk of ice in our ice box until dinner time.  We had to eat it all at one meal because it didn’t keep.  Many times Mother would say, "Bill, can you finish up the ice cream left in the carton?""

This story, authored by Libby Willis, originally appeared in the October 2013 edition of the Oak Leaflet.

The Womacks of Primrose: An Oakhurst Story

Contributed by Libby Willis

"Their story would make a great movie," according to Delia Brelsford Shiflet. She's talking about the story of her parents, Mary Margaret Womack and Joe Jack Brelsford.

The story starts in Oakhurst when Mary's parents, Bertha L. and William A. Womack, moved into the new bungalow at 2508 Primrose in 1928. The Womacks were the original owners of the house, which was built in 1927 and was featured in a booklet, "Our Home in Fort Worth" and on a postcard. The house was theirs for $4,500.

The Womack family at 2508 Primrose in the summer of 1933:  Mary is
standing,  top left, with brother Bill; seated is father, W.A. Womack,
with baby James, John Carver, Jr., and mother, Bertha Womack.

Mary Womack was nine years old when she moved to Oakhurst. She had an older brother, John Carver, Jr., who was her mother's son with her first husband, John Carver, who had worked for the Rock Island Railroad. Carver was killed in a work accident, and Bertha Carver later married his good friend, William A. Womack, who also worked on the Rock Island as a fireman. John and Mary had a younger brother, Bill, and, eventually, another brother, James. The Womack kids attended Oakhurst Elementary and Riverside Elementary Schools.



Bill and Mary Womack before school in 1933.

Their home in Oakhurst was a typical style for the early part of the neighborhood's development. The family took advantage of the bountiful sandy loam soil and created a rose garden on the east side of the house.

2508 Primrose, built in 1927, as it appeared in an early postcard
photograph. Note the roses on the east side of the house.

Like most kids their age, Mary and Bill Womack and their friends rode bikes, sat in the side porch swing, and went swimming. Mary said she often skated from Primrose to Sylvania then up to Yucca and back home. "I wore my skates out!" she said.

"We had fun in Oakhurst," Mary said in a recent interview. Now 94, she remembers all the details: "We went barefoot a lot and tried to avoid all the mosquitoes. We had picnics in the backyard where my parents had set up a table and benches. Every July 4th, we went to Sylvania Park for the fireworks."

The second half of Mary's childhood and adolescence was in the 1930s, when the Great Depression made finances very hard for many families. She remembered that "people would beg at the door." In 1934, Joe Brelsford saw Mary coming down the steps at Riverside Christian Church. He was sixteen and she was fifteen. Joe, a Poly resident, famously told a friend that someday "he would marry that girl." According to his obituary, Joe introduced himself to Mary the day he first saw her and "they became inseparable."

After graduating from Paschal High School, Mary attended Texas Wesleyan University and then went to TCU on a scholarship where she was a Journalism major. She graduated in June 1941. Three days after Pearl Harbor, in December 1941, Joe Brelsford joined the Navy and shipped out to his base in California. He later served on the U.S.S. Pennsylvania.

Here the movie part continues. In 1941, Mary, deciding that she might have let a good thing get too far away, took the train with Joe's mother to San Francisco. There, in October 1942, Mary and Joe were married by a Catholic Navy chaplain, she in her traditional white gown and he in his Navy blues.

Mary Womack and Joe Brelsford married
in October 1942 in San Francisco.

While Joe went to war, Mary went to work for the government in the Foreign Intelligence Broadcast area. Her job was to stay up all night (from 12:30am until 8:30 or 9:00am) and make reports to Washington on what Japanese propagandists were saying in their radio broadcasts. At one point, Mary heard the Japanese announcer say her husband's ship had been sunk. "That was a bad time - I cried," she remembered. Happily, the story turned out not to be true.

Mary and Joe were stationed in California, Washington, Florida, Massachusetts, New York City and Virginia during World War II. Meanwhile, the Womacks on Primrose Avenue were carrying on. Brother Bill was 20 when the war started. W.A. and Bertha Womack were raising younger brother James, who was 8 at the beginning of the war. Mr. Womack died in 1956; Bertha lived on at the Primrose house until her death in 1975.

James Womack, in aviator goggles, prepares to slice
open a watermelon in the early 1940s on Primrose.

Mary and Joe moved back to Fort Worth after the war ended in 1945 and lived briefly in Meadowbrook before settling in Rolling Hills, on the South Side. Joe worked 30 years on the engineering staff of Chance Vought Aeronautics (LTV/Lockheed Martin). He and Mary raised two children, Delia Ann and Joe Scott Brelsford.

The Womack family in August 1949 at 2508 Primrose.
By then, Bertha and W.A. had grandchildren.

For almost 50 years, 2508 Primrose was the center of the Womack family's life. They celebrated weddings, Christmas and general life there. For many years, a dinner bell brought from Kentucky by Mary's family was installed on the east side of the house. It's now with Bill Womack at his home in Midland. Mary Margaret lives with her daughter, Delia, in south Fort Worth. She is still vibrant and full of memories of life in Oakhurst. James is retired and lives with his family in San Antonio.

The Primrose house and the Womack family made a big impression on Delia. She remembered: "Going to my Grandmother's house on weekends was an important part of my childhood. I remember playing in her front yard and rolling down the little slopes at the foot of her yard onto the sidewalk. For some reason I clearly remember watching "The Naked Jungle" with Charlton Heston (about the killer army ants in the jungles) back in her den, curled up on her couch with the swamp cooler running. Most of all, I remember her making me meatloaf and her legendary peach cobbler. When she passed away in 1975. my mom asked me if there was anything of hers that I would like to have, and out of all her belongings, I chose her old, dented peach cobbler pan. It might not have had any monetary value, but it was the one thing that so many of my memories of my Grandmother revolved around. No matter what the occasion - family gatherings, Sunday dinner, Christmas, or whatever - that pan was on the table, filled with her homemade peach cobbler. I still have that pan, and it's one of my most prized belongings."

Mary Womack Brelsford in July 2013, age 94. Her
journals record life during the war and after and are
reminders of many good times with her family.

Even though no Womacks have lived at 2508 Primrose for almost 40 years, "we still drive by and look at the house when we go to Mount Olivet to visit the graves of my family" says Delia. "We're glad the house is being taken care of," she said. The present owner is Margaret Hamm, who has three other generations of her family (daughter, granddaughter, and great-grandchildren) also living in Oakhurst.

Like so many other Oakhurst homes, 2508 Primrose Avenue is a place in the heart because of the people who lived there, the families and lives they created, and because it launched them into extraordinary events.

Just like in the movies.

Information for this story was drawn from July 2013 interviews with Mary Womack Brelsford and Delia Brelsford Shiflet and from various Brelsford family documents; Delia Shiflet kindly lent Womack family photographs of life on Primrose from the 1920s through the 1950s. This story originally appeared in the August 2013 edition of the Oak Leaflet.

Neighborhood Loses Longtime Stalwart Duffy Lee, Among Others

Longtime Oakhurst resident Duffy Lee died on January 16, after struggling the last couple of years with cancer.  She was 87.  Duffy was an extremely active member of both the Oakhurst Neighborhood Association and the Oakhurst Citizens on Patrol.  She had lived in Oakhurst since the 1950s, on Morning Glory Avenue, where she served as a street representative for many years.

Duffy also served for many years as chairman of ONA’s Welcoming Committee.  It was her delight to bake a pie, cookies, or cake, and deliver them to new residents soon after they moved into Oakhurst.  She was a fixture at neighborhood monthly meetings and twice annual general membership meetings, where she was responsible for setting up refreshments for the “socials.”  She always brought seasonal decorations (Easter rabbits for spring; Halloween motif items for fall) for these events.  She made the ice cream punch and a lot of goodies, and she set it all up for the neighbors to enjoy, along with the food contributions of other neighbors.

Duffy believed that everyone in Oakhurst should participate in the neighborhood association.  She often made it a point to encourage younger members to become involved.  She also believed that one hour was long enough for a meeting, as she was often the member who made the motion to adjourn the meeting when she thought the meeting was running long.  Above all, she participated in everything the association did.  She thought that was what residents were supposed to do.

No one took more delight than Duffy in the 2007 Neighborhoods USA 1st Place Award for Community Collaboration given to ONA and the Oakhurst Citizens on Patrol for the annual Police and Firefighters Appreciation Dinner.  She was—for so long—a part of the event that Oakhurst residents, as well as police and firefighters, looked forward to her desserts at the fall event...especially her buttermilk pie.

She was the epitome of service to her neighbors—those who lived with her on Morning Glory, and those who lived elsewhere in the neighborhood.  She came from the Wallis family in Weatherford and had eleven brothers and sisters.  According to the minister at her funeral, the “Wallis women” were known for being strong and determined.

He told the story of Duffy at Luby’s Cafeteria, where she worked for a time serving coffee and tea to customers.  One day, a Luby’s executive from the corporate office was observing operations at the Loop 820 cafeteria.  At one point, he saw Duffy pour a pot of coffee down a sink.  He brought this to her attention, thinking he had spotted a way to save money.  Pour less coffee down the drain—save money.  Duffy, in her inimitable way, replied to the executive that she had drained the coffee pot because the coffee was stale.  “I will NOT serve stale coffee to my customers,” she told him, and if that was a problem for him, then she could find her way elsewhere.  That ended that discussion and underscored Duffy’s commitment to excellence in food service.  She remained at Luby’s.

The congregation at Duffy’s funeral was full of people who had known her in all her service capacities—as a longtime owner of a beauty salon in Riverside, as a COPs member, as a neighbor, and as an ONA leader.  Fort Worth Police Chief Jeff Halstead attended her service, as did many police officers and other representatives of the FWPD.  At least four rows of Citizens on Patrol members from Oakhurst and other groups were present.  “Duffy was always there,” said one.  “She was faithful and always dependable.  She WAS Oakhurst.”

See Duffy's obituary below, along with several other Oakhurst neighbors that we remember this month.

Duffy Wallis Lee (1925-2013)

Duffy Wallis Lee, 87, a resident of Morning Glory, went to be with the Lord on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, after losing her fight with cancer. Her funeral was held in Mount Olivet Chapel. Interment was in Mount Olivet Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to Cancer Care Services, 623 S. Henderson, Fort Worth, Texas 76104. Our Nana and mother, Duffy was born March 5, 1925, in Weatherford and was a sibling of 12. She began cosmetology school as a teenager. One day while traveling on a bus to school, she was spotted by Robert B. Lee, who asked her out on a date, fell in love and married in November 1950. Duffy owned and operated Duffy's Hair Styles in Fort Worth, dressing hair for over 50 years. She later went to work for Luby's Cafeteria at 820 and Beach Street as the all-famous "Tea Lady." Duffy was proud of her Oakhurst neighborhood and the Oakhurst Neighborhood Association. She told everyone about the 2006 Neighborhood of the Year award. Welcoming chairperson, Duffy would greet all new residents with her homemade desserts. She was known in her neighborhood as the "Pie Lady." Duffy was voted Patroller of the Year in 2008. Nana, mother, Duffy loved life; her passion to cook and bake was like no other. Her pastime was reading novels, cookbooks and taking care of you. She loved her family. The family wants to thank Dr. Asad Dean and his team at Texas Oncology, 12th Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas 76104. Duffy was preceded in death by the love of her life, Robert B. Lee. Survivors: Son, Randy Lee and wife, Telea, of Springtown; granddaughter, Kelley Jenkins, of Keller; great-granddaughters, Kylie and Abby; brother, Bobby Wallis and wife, Martha, of Weatherford; her beloved Jack Russell, Harley Beckum; and a host of other loving family members and friends.

Jerry Ann Baker (1938-2013)
 

Jerry Ann Baker, 74, a resident of Goldenrod, passed away Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013.  Her funeral was at Birdville Church of Christ.  Interment was at Mount Olivet Cemetery.  Memorials:  Donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association.  Above all else, Jerry loved her family and was a longtime member of Birdville Church of Christ and a faithful servant of the Lord.  She was a Sunday school teacher active in nursing home ministry and visitation, behind the scenes in both church and schools. Survivors:  Husband, Victor Baker of Fort Worth; daughters, Pamala Hamilton and husband, Billy, of Argyle, Lori Baker of Fort Worth, Staci Bradley and husband, Harold, of Grapevine; son, Kent Baker of Irving; grandchildren, Spencer Hamilton and wife, McKenna, of Temple, Mallary Hamilton of Austin, Chandler Hamilton Busby and husband, Josh, of Haiti, Alec, Alden and Alyse Bradley of Grapevine, Micah Baker of Irving; great-grandson, Nolan Hamilton of Temple; brother, Ronnie Ledgerwood and wife, Alpha, of Lubbock; sister-in-law, Shela and husband, Richard Carey; and niece and nephews.

Ruth Estelle Tallant (1922 - 2013)

Ruth Estelle Tallant, 90, a resident of Lotus Avenue, passed away Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013.  Her
memorial service was at Riverside Baptist Church.  Estelle was born Dec. 1, 1922, in Malakoff.
She was a faithful church member of Riverside Baptist Church for 71 years.  She enjoyed bridge, golf and tennis.  She was a wonderful and loving wife and mother.  She was preceded in death by her husband, "Smokey"; son, Greg; mother, Ruth; father, Jim; brother, Gary; and sister, Theda. Survivors: Son, Ronny and wife, Carolyn; daughter, Barbara Ann; seven grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; sister, Joan and husband, Charlie; brother, Dale and wife, Brenda; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Charles David O'Dell (1941 - 2013)

Charles David O'Dell, 71, a resident of Lotus Avenue, passed away Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013.  His funeral was in Mount Olivet Chapel.  Interment was in Oakwood Cemetery.  David was born Aug. 14, 1941.  He was a graduate of Haltom High School.  He worked as a firefighter for the Fort Worth Fire Department for 25 years and retired after achieving the rank of lieutenant.  David and his wife
are active members of D/FW Sam's RV Chapter.  He was preceded in death by his parents, Olen H. and Dottie O'Dell.  Survivors:  Beloved wife of 34 years, Shirley O'Dell; son, Kelly David O'Dell; sister, Janet O'Dell; and numerous nieces, nephews and friends.