Flatiron Building Remains an Architectural Titan in Downtown Fort Worth
January 8,2024
See full Fort Worth Magazine article by John Henry here.
One is left to use his imagination as to what Dr. Bacon Saunders saw during this particular trip to New York City.
But the 22-story edifice must have arrested his attention as he stood in the middle of Fifth Avenue spellbound by its beauty and uncommon triangular shape that appeared like a clothes iron.
It was New York’s Flatiron Building. Its regal form stood out in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, designed by world-renowned architect Daniel Burnham and Frederick P. Dinkelberg.
It was opened in 1902 and in those early days it went by “Burnham’s Folly.” Saunders, the good doctor from Fort Worth, perhaps was one of the very few smitten at the time by what sat at the triangle-shaped plot at 23rd Street, Broadway, and Fifth Avenue.
It’s not far, coincidentally, from the final resting place of Maj. Gen. William Jenkins Worth and the monument dedicated to him.
So, enamored was Saunders with the building that he had a seven-story replica constructed in his hometown of Fort Worth. At Ninth and Houston streets still sits our very own Flatiron Building, built and assembled in 1907.
Saunders, a noted surgeon, was one of the founders of the Medical College at Fort Worth University and later TCU, and he went on to serve as dean for 10 years. He was also chief surgeon for the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad, division surgeon for the Texas and Pacific, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe, the St. Louis and Southwestern, and the International and Great Northern.
He did most of his hospital work at St. Joseph, according to reporting during his day.
However, Bacon Saunders is best known as the builder of the Flatiron Building in downtown, a jewel of history and architecture.
The building was designed by Sanguinet & Staats in Renaissance Revival. At the time it was one of the tallest commercial buildings in North Texas, according to architect John Roberts, who has documented every building in downtown. You can find his work at www.fortwortharchitecture.com.
Originally designed to be 10 stories, the building was cut to seven stories because of budget constraints. The building was one of the city’s first steel-framed buildings and, according to reporting in 1907, “absolutely fireproof.”
“It will make a most imposing entrance to Hyde Park and to the Carnegie Library, the City Hall, the federal courthouse, the post office building, Central fire hall, and St. Patrick’s church,” the Star-Telegram said in 1907.
Contractor was Buchanan & Gilder. It was built for about $100,000, or about $3.4 million today.
Another doctor, George Cravens, a neurologist, and his wife rescued the building from disrepair in the mid-1990s, committing $4 million to restoring the structure.
The restoration architect was Raymond O'Connor of Fort Worth. Dennett Construction of Fort Worth was the contractor.
Cravens also donated the 6,000-pound “Sleeping Panther” to the city. Cravens commissioned Italian Franco Alessandrini to created it out of black Italian marble. The panther keeps an eye on Hyde Park while slothfully resting atop a fountain.
I also found a list of the original tenants in 1907. The Flatiron appeared to add a number of tenants through the first year, but here are the originals, with industry where known:
Ground floor: West Fort Worth Land Company; Gibson and Lewis Realty Company; Mexico Land and Colonization Company; Smith Premier Typewriter Company; Flatiron Building Barber Shop, Hugo Liedke, proprietor.
Second floor: J.M. Long, lender; Dr. Bacon Saunders; Dr. Roy Saunders; Dr. Howard Reder; Dr. G.W. Kline, dentist; Dr. W.D. Littler.
Third floor: Wesley Ammerman, lawyer; Francisco & Addington, real estate and rental agents; Lawrence & Williams, dentists; Dr. Geo. D. Bond, x-ray and electro therapeutics; Frazier-Furlow Realty Co., real estate, rentals, and loans; J.B. McCullar Lumber Company; Dr. J.A. Gracey; Arlington Heights Realty Company.
Fourth floor: A.D. Lloyd, sole controller of Arlington Heights; Dr. F.D. Garrison, dentist.
Fifth floor: Dr. E.E. Moore, dentist; Fort Worth-Mineral Wells Interurban; Southern Co-operative Land and Live Stock Company.