The Truth About The Real Hell's Half Acre

By 1876, citizens were up in arms about how badly that part of Fort Worth had descended into lawlessness and chaos. Because of this, it picked up the additional nickname "the bloody Third Ward," referring to the political ward it represented in Fort Worth, according to the Texas State Historical Association. At that point, infamous outlaws like Sam Bass were hiding out in that area of town, and city marshal Timothy Isaiah (Longhair Jim) Courtright was tasked with cleaning up the saloons and other lawbreaking establishments common at the time. By 1889, most of Hell's Half Acre's worst excesses were brought under control.

The truth about the real Hell's Half Acre, though, is that the district of Fort Worth became so notorious as a den of gluttony and vice, the name Hell's Half Acre came into use, describing other famously blighted areas in frontier towns, similar to how we use "red-light district" to describe certain sketchy neighborhoods today, per TSHA. Other towns from the time with "Hell's Half Acre" districts included San Antonio and Tascosa, Texas. Predating Fort Worth's Hell's Half Acre, in fact, the entire town of Webberville, Texas — near Austin — picked up the name due to its bad reputation.

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