Sweetie Ladd was Fort Worth's own "Grandma" Moses, a folk artist who captured the city's history in watercolor and lithograph. In her sixties when she began painting, Ladd once told a fellow artist she didn't know how she achieved her distinctive style. "Just paint poorly, dear," she advised. In truth, she had attended painting workshops in Paris, Spain, and Mexico and studied under Fort Worth artist Bror Utter. After she took a class on perspective, her teacher advised her to discontinue formal training and paint what came naturally. Sweetie Ladd's Historic Fort Worth presents twenty-eight paintings from the Landmark Series, paintings of historic Fort Worth structures, many of which no longer stand today: the T&P Station, Lake Como Pavilion, the Nine-Mile Bridge Casino, the Worth Hotel, the lobby of the Majestic Theater, Goat Island, and the Lake Erie Interurban. The book also contains the "Cries of Fort Worth" series based on Wheatley's "Cries of London." These ten paintings portray such old-time peddlars as the ice man, the scissor man, the bottleman, and the tamale seller. Ladd didn't simply draw the buildings or landmarks. She put them in an action setting. "The Day Fort Worth Burned" shows several young children watching the flames from a field. Two of the children are Sweetie Ladd and her sister, who were in that very field that day. Two young boys also watching could have been the Monnig brothers, Otto and Oscar. She remembered they were there that day. Other pictures include names longtime Fort Worth residents will find familiar: the horse-drawn Ballard Ice Cream Truck passes in front of the Scott home, now known as Thistle Hill; Mrs. Baird's Bread is the sign on a horse-drawn carriage in "The Breadman"; a Stripling's delivery cart is in front of the J. E. Moore home (now part of the Woman's Club); a horse-drawn funeral procession passes in front of the old Washer Brothers building; and Fuqua's Grocery sits next to Anderson Drugs in "Extra--Extra," one of the "Cries" series in which a young boy passes out the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Sweetie Ladd's paintings were shown at the Woman's Club of Fort Worth and accepted in juried shows of the University of Texas at Arlington, the Fort Worth Art Museum, and the Texas Fine Arts Association. These historical paintings are now owned by the Fort Worth Public Library and have been reproduced with their cooperation. Cissy Stewart Lale's text elucidates each painting, explaining details and their historical significance. The book begins with brief essays on Mrs. Ladd and Fort Worth history.

On the prairie west of Fort Worth, British-born Humphrey Barker Chamberlin commissioned a model mansion, grand hotel, trolley line, lake, and waterworks in the early 1890s. He launched Chamberlin Arlington Heights as an opulent suburb reminiscent of his Capitol Hill enclave in Denver, then lost his overextended empire in the silver panic of 1893. Although several more well-to-do families established homes near those of the original "Heights pioneers," development progressed slowly. With the coming of World War I, local leaders persuaded the U.S. Army to build Camp Bowie across much of the sparsely settled area, providing infrastructure. A bungalow boom followed, with housing additions for the middle class and annexation by Fort Worth. As the 20th century drew to a close, preservationists sought protection for the legacy of built treasures within the neighborhood.

Fort Worth Stories is a collection of thirty-two bite-sized chapters of the city’s history. Did you know that the same day Fort Worth was mourning the death of beloved African American “Gooseneck Bill” McDonald, Dallas was experiencing a series of bombings in black neighborhoods? Or that Fort Worth almost got the largest statue to Robert E. Lee ever put up anywhere, sculpted by the same massive talent that created Mount Rushmore? Or that Fort Worth was once the candy-making capital of the Southwest and gave Hershey, Pennsylvania, a good run for its money as the sweet spot of the nation? A remarkable number of national figures have made a splash in Fort Worth, including Theodore Roosevelt while he was President; Vernon Castle, the Dance King; Dr. H.H. Holmes, America’s first serial killer; Harry Houdini, the escape artist; and Texas Guinan, star of the vaudeville stage and the big screen. Fort Worth Stories is illustrated with 50 photographs and drawings, many of them never before published. This collection of stories will appeal to all who appreciate the Cowtown city.

Fort Worth is the City of Cowboys and Cultureand where the West begins. Its citizens highlight the Texas can-do spirit and the determination and compassion to make a difference, to be legendary. When Buckley (B.B.) Paddock persuaded the railroad to lay track west of Dallas, a city was born and so was opportunity. Cowboys like T.J. Ryon rode into town with their cattle. J. Frank Norris preached against the vices in Hells Half Acre while Jennie Schueber tried to rally support for a free library. Feisty entrepreneurs like Ninnie Baird and John B. Laneri baked bread and sold pasta noodles. Cowtown also boasts such notables as Edna Gladney, who helped countless orphans find a home; the Clark brothers, who brought Texas Christian University home; and Claude R. Platte, who bravely served as a Tuskegee airman. These fine folks are just a sampling of Fort Worths fascinatingand sometimes infamouscharacters.